Kataritsugu Koto
by Haruyan
Summary: A baby comes as a blessing or a burden. After some experiments from Kurotsuchi, some shinigami are revealed to be pregnant, among them Kira, who's recently broken up with Shuuhei. MPREG. Pairings: Shuu/Kira, Ikka/Yumi, Ren/Ichi, others.
1. What fate awaits me?

Warning: This fanfic contains shounen ai (male/male love) and m-preg, so if you're feel uncomfortable with either I'd suggest you pick something else, if not, enjoy. Have a good day

Pairings: Shuuhei/Izuru, Ikkaku/Yumichika, Shunsui/Ukitake, Ganju/Hanatarou, Renji/Ichigo

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 1**

Nobody knew when or how, but when Kurotsuchi announced that everyone in Seireitei had been subject to an experiment and he thanked them for their cooperation, the whole Gotei 13 went into an uproar.

Apparently, a couple of months before Aizen's betrayal, Kurotsuchi-taicho had been slipping experimental pills into the food of random shinigami. Now, a few months after they should be starting to show obvious sympthoms. Of course, the pills had been deliberately given to male shinigami.

With almost ten zanpakuto at his neck, Mayuri confessed that the point of the experiment was to induce pregnancy. In males. He expected the 5th Seat of the 11th Division, Ayasegawa Yumichika, to be one of the few that would surely show symptoms given his and his lover's sexual habits, but as it turned out, Yumichika always insisted to wear a condom, much to Ikkaku's relief this time.

Shuuhei was glad he wasn't sleeping with anybody so he was sure that he couldn't have fathered any child. And even if he did, he would take care of the child...not that it was remotely possible.

The 9th Division Lieutenant kept believing so until that one fateful day when he caught Kira Izuru on a discreet visit to Unohana-taichou. It took a while but it finally clicked. Kurotsuchi's experiment had begun approximately five months ago, and three months ago he had been in a relationship with Kira-fukutaicho!

The reason for their break-up was that they didn't have time for each other, not with all the work they had to fill in for their taicho. A single goodbye kiss and each went his own way. They still hung out together occasionally, the break-up had been amiable and there was no reason they would hate each other. But sometimes Hisagi did miss that delicate skin next to his, that groggy smile every morning when the senses were still not completely woken up, the simpleness of Izuru's love. In a way, it had simply been too good to be true.

Now, if Kira was pregnant...and if it was Shuuhei's child...no, Kira would've told him, surely Kira would have told Shuuhei that he was carrying his child. Right? But if he didn't...then maybe it wasn't Shuuhei's child...

Shuuhei couldn't recall Kira dating anyone after him, or before. He could ask Kira directly, but that would be pretty embarrassing, and how did you ask your former lover if his child was yours?

Well, he wasn't showing, so maybe it was just a regular check-up? That must be it. Shuuhei consoled himself with that theory until the rumors started flying, that at least three shinigami were sure to be pregnant, and two others were still unsure. Shuuhei's heart skipped a little beat, three shinigami? Was Kira among them?And if he was, was he the father?

He kinda hoped he wasn't and kinda hoped he was. A kid was cute and fun, but it was also a lot of work and sacrifice, but it was also an heir to take the name of his father, someone to be proud of. Ah, but it might not be his child...whose was it, then?

"I'm not showing much and it's almost the end of the 13th week, should I be worried?" Kira explained calmly to Unohana and Kurotsuchi while his hands busied themselves in kneading and turning to express his worry and angstiness.

Unohana smiled gently at him, motioning that he could cover himself now. "It's quite fine Kira-fukutaicho. Some women don't start showing it soon either."

Kurotsuchi coughed to make his presence known. "Yes, well. Your body will start changing and you'll feel a lot of discomfort. Perhaps even some pain from your muscles and skin stretching to accommodate an alien body. Have you been feeling nauseous?"

"No."

"Dizzy?"

"Any cravings? Muscles pains? Sudden and violent changes of mood?"

"No, no. Well, I really wanted vanilla ice-cream two days ago but it was more of a passing thought than a craving."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Lemme see that scan again!! Maybe it's just a false alarm!!"

"That's quite normal as well, Kurotsuchi-taicho. Some women have lots of discomforts during the first trimester and some don't. Kira-fukutaicho seems to be of the lucky few that present none." The gentle captain smiled indulgently at the fretting scientist, who resigned himself to sigh angrily.

"Fine. Go away now and come back next week."

Kira stood and bowed politely at both captains before exiting the office. Walking the hallways of the Fourth Division, Kira placed his hands gently upon his belly, feeling the very slight bulge growing. A child. His child. And also the child of that person.

_'I wish I could tell him but...I don't know what his reaction will be.'_

With a final sigh, Kira stepped out to the street only to bump into one Hisagi Shuuhei.

"Shuu--I mean, Hisagi-senpai."

"H-hey, Kira."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, neither attempting to make eye contact with the other until Kira bows and mutters an apology, side-stepping the other lieutenant to walk away.

"W-wait, wait Kira! I...I wanted to ask you something..."

"Yes?" The blonde turned, a visible eye slightly wide in surprise.

"I...I wanted to ask you..."

Kira's heart began to pound in his chest, whatever could Hisagi want to ask of him? Could it be...about the child? Or something else entirely?

_To be continued..._

Sorry for the short chapters, updates will be every Monday (hopefully). Comments are very appreciated.


	2. I'm still too scared to trust

Thank you everyone who commented on the last chapter.

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 2**

In the end, Hisagi-fukutaicho made a fool of himself, asking something completely out of context.

"Damnit! Why couldn't I have asked him then and there! It was the perfect chance and it's not like Kira is into lying."

Shuuhei berated himself angrily as he stomped from side-to-side in his office. His seated members were starting to get worried, Hisagi-fukutaicho never got so worked up before, and it was especially bothersome since they didn't know what it was that got their acting captain like that in the first place.

Kira let out a soft breath as he took a small moment from signing papers to gently rub his belly. It was just slightly bigger than the day before, and Kira could feel the mild, weak pulse of a reiatsu growing inside of him. It brought a smile to his face.

Unohana-taicho had said that they wouldn't be able to tell the sex of the baby until the next trimester, but Izuru could feel that his child would be a boy, he supposed it was a sort of maternal instinct that told him that.

Not many knew yet of Kira-fukutaicho's pregnancy, just the closest seated members of the Third Division. It wasn't being kept a secret on purpose by Kira, but it was a personal matter that he didn't see the need to tell the whole of Soul Society. He wouldn't deny it if asked anyway, it would be pretty obvious soon what was going on.

With a sigh, Kira turned back to his papers, trying a bit to forget the whole ordeal of having to be pregnant. It wasn't an unwanted baby, it hadn't been planned sure, but Kira had never thought of getting rid of it, even if it was 'that' person's child. All the more reason to love this baby.

A knock on the door diverted Kira from his thoughts.

"Kira-fukutaicho, the meeting is about to start."

"Yes, thank you, I'll be right there."

Ah, the inevitable had come. Soutaicho had forced Kurotsuchi's hand to reveal the names of those pregnant for all the taicho and fukutaicho to know. Kurotsuchi himself wanted to keep those names secret, not for the good of those impregnated, but so he could examine them without disturbances of related or unrelated parties. In the end, Yamamoto's iron rule had won over the 12th Division captain's fancy.

Despite being lieutenants, both Shuuhei and Kira were acting captains, and therefore had to attend captain meetings as well as the lieutenant meetings, this meeting however, called for both parties.

Kira tried not to make his pregnancy too obvious. Even though his belly wasn't very swollen, he tried not to put his hands over it as he often did nowadays. Shuuhei kept a close eye on Kira, despite being several seats apart. Feeling his gaze, Kira averted his eyes to the floor, arms coming around himself in a sort of self-hug. Did Shuuhei know? Even if he didn't, he would soon enough.

Yamamoto soon started the meeting.

"As you know, Kurotsuchi-taicho has been performing experiments on unsuspecting shinigami. This experiment was meant to induce pregnancy in males, and according to his research, has succeeded. Now, Kurotsuchi-taicho, if you could please inform us of the shinigami currently carrying."

With a cough, the 12th Division captain stood, Nemu handing him a paper. Coughing again, Mayuri began to read.

"Shinigami successfully impregnated are: 7th Seat of the 4th Division Yamada Hanatarou, former 12th Division Captain Urahara Kisuke, 13th Division Captain Ukitake Jyuushiro and 3rd Division Lieutenant Kira Izuru. We suspect Shinigami Representative Ichigo Kurosaki to be carrying but we are still unsure, tests have been inconclusive."

Mayuri sat down. All of the shinigami present were whispering quite loudly among themselves, until Yamamoto silenced them with a tap of his cane.

"Thank you Kurotsuchi-taicho, and the fathers?"

The hall went silent with that question. Mayuri began to fret about and sweat until Unohana stood to take the words from his mouth.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho; since this experiment was done without the knowledge or consent of the impregnated, I believe it is their choice to reveal who is the parent of their child, seeing as it is a rather private matter."

Yamamoto nodded his head at her in agreement. "Very well, Unohana-taicho. Of the shinigami that were just called, are there any of you who are willing to reveal the parent of their child."

For a long moment, no one moved or even took a small breath. Ukitake was the first brave one to stand, his hands shaking slightly.

"Umm, I haven't told him so I guess this is a good chance. It's yours, Shunsui."

Said captain gasped loudly, seconds later leaping out of his seat to glomp and huggle his beloved. The rest looked on with soft eyes as the 8th Division captain kissed and made promises of a happy life for his child.

Looks soon turned to Kira, the only one here besides Captain Ukitake out of the four called. Shuuhei especially kept a steady gaze on the blonde shinigami, who only turned away from the prying eyes.

"I...I'd rather not say, so please..."

With those words, the looks softened a bit, except Shuuhei's. Kira could feel those eyes on him but he still refused to look up.

"Please excuse me, I'm not feeling well..." Shakily he stood up, gently refusing the help of Omaeda and Unohana. He managed to run to the bathroom only to dry heave and cough. That had been stressful; too stressful. Sitting on the cool floor, Kira rubbed his belly gently feeling the small reiatsu there pulsing, and he smiled a bit.

After a while he came out and walked away to the entrance. No use in staying any longer and the meeting was probably over anyway.

Stepping out to the street he bumped into Hisagi again.

"Umm, how are you feeling?"

"Good, felt a bit queasy back there but I'm fine now."

Shuuhei looked away from Kira's gaze, now their roles inverted on who looked and who hid.

"I'll walk you back to your Division." Hisagi offered, his face turning the slightest bit red.

Kira smiled at such a cute gesture. "Thank you, but I'm actually going home now. You're welcome to accompany me, if you want."

Hisagi grinned widely and walked along at Kira's side. Although it was silent between them, it was comfortable silence, until Shuuhei decided to pry in private matters.

"So, ummm, you got knocked up..hehe..."

"Y-yes..."

"Sooo, you want a boy or a girl?"

"I think it'll be a boy..."

"Oh..."

More silence between them, not as comfortable this time.

"Thought about any names, yet?"

"No, not really."

"So, what about the dad? Aren't you gonna tell him?" _'Please say it's me. Please don't say it's me.'_

"I...I don't think I can tell him..."

"Why not?"

"I don't think he'll want to know..."

Shuuhei stayed quiet after that. It was true he didn't want to know, but he also did want to know, just to disperse any doubt.

The rest of the walk home was not so pleasant anymore, even with the evening sun warming them up. Shuuhei could feel a barrier between he and Kira, a cold thick barrier.

Finally when they arrived, Kira hurried in opening his door and saying a quick but polite goodbye, but although Shuuhei didn't stop him, he still felt like he should say something else.

"You're wondering about it, aren't you?"

The swift reading of his mind took Shuuhei by surprise, which clearly showed on his face.

"If you...don't give me the right question...I don't know how to answer it."

_'Just ask me already so we can get done with it,'_ was what he was really saying. But, Shuuhei took his time in formulating the question, swallowing hard after thinking deeply on it for a few minutes.

"Is...is it mine?"

Kira looked at him impassively with a single eye, letting out the breath he was holding and answered.

"I can't tell you."

_To be continued..._

Comments are welcome. Next update will be on Friday.


	3. The future I looked up to

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 3**

_"I can't tell you"_

Shuuhei was bewildered at that answer. But his surprise lasted long enough for Kira to close the door behind himself and seemingly hide. After that, a week passed without Shuuhei making any other move to see him or get anymore answers.

It made him anxious, because he didn't know and because Kira didn't tell him; he wasn't in a position to force him either.

Apparently, Yamada Hanatarou hadn't revealed either who was the one that "banged him up", but most assumed it was Shiba Ganju's child -being his boyfriend and all- much to the embarrassment of the seventh seat.

Kyoraku-taicho was on the clouds, constantly talking and making plans for his and Ukitake-taicho's child. Jyuushiro had already accepted to move to the 8th Captain's house, and despite his condition, he was looking very healthy and so far had very few relapses of tuberculosis. Shunsui was glad for that but kept insistent on accompanying and carrying his lover everywhere, much to the protests of the white-haired male.

Kira was doing pretty fine as well. His belly had started to swell and now it looked like he was hiding a very small melon under his robes. Kurotsuchi was pleased with the progress while the shinigami women were ecstatic, there wasn't a day someone wouldn't ask the 3th Division Lieutenant to show a bit of his belly or let someone touch it.

Kira was content despite all the people around him asking him about it, asking permission if they could touch, asking if he had thought of any names, (in Hanatarou's case the 11th Divison stopped bothering him altogether), offering to help him carry stuff or go up stairs, even receiving gifts of food. He wasn't so against receiving those, but unlike popular thought, he didn't have any cravings.

According to Kurotsuchi's investigation, Ukitake-taichou had constant cravings, Yamada-san had too much nausea to keep anything down, and Kira-fukutaichou had no symptoms of cravings or nausea. Kurosaki Ichigo had turned negative after more tests. The news came as a relief for him and Renji-fukutaicho, as neither of them felt ready to care for a baby. Urahara was monitoring his own pregnancy along with Kurosaki Isshin, only occasionally reporting any changes or progress to Mayuri.

With the exception of Urahara Kisuke, every week they had an appointment with Unohana-taichou and Kurotsuchi-taichou. For the most part they took their significant other's along, except Kira.

"Well, everything seems to be going fine Kira-fukutaicho," Unohana smiled gently at Kira, offering a towel so he could wipe the goey stuff on his stomach used to help the ultrasound. "Just keep taking your vitamins and supplements."

"Thank you, Unohana-taicho. Kurotsuchi-taicho."

The scientist huffed and motioned Nemu to hand him a new pen, the one he had had run out of ink. Because of his experiments, Yamamoto-soutaicho had punished him with extra paperwork and the obligations to take care of the currently pregnant shinigami and their babies, that wasn't as much punishment but he was also banned from performing anymore experiments, unless under direct orders from Yamamoto himself.

"Kira-san, I should tell you now. Your pregnancy, as well as Ukitake-taichou's, Yamada-san's and Urahara-san's, is very high risk due to your being male."

Kira nodded in understanding, but Unohana's face grew more worried.

"There is a chance...that either one of you won't survive."

Kira's eyes widened but he kept calm. It was to be expected, even women's pregnancy was sometimes dangerous for both the mother and the child. Izuru placed his hands over his now over-grown belly, a tiny reiatsu pulsing steadily inside.

"I understand...Unohana-taicho."

The woman spoke a few more words of encouragement to him before he stood and left. Kira's mind was blank as he exited the 4th Divison. His baby could die. His baby could die. That was all his mind could bring up at the moment. He didn't want his baby to die, he loved him, he wanted to hold him in his arms, put him to sleep, feed him, watch him grow, teach him, love him.

Izuru wiped a stray tear before anyone could see it. _'I gotta pull myself together. It's only a possibility. My baby won't die, he won't.'_ As Kira consoled himself with this words, his baby's reiatsu spiked a bit, immediately he placed a hand on his stomach and rubbed a bit, gently trying to reach him with his own energy.

"Kira?"

A voiced made him whip around but he smiled at seeing the familiar face.

"Oh. Hisagi-san. It seems like we've been bumping into each other pretty often."

"Yeah, what a coincidence." The dark haired shinigami scratched the back of his head as he walked closer. "Taking a walk?"

"Yes. Umm, would you like to join me?"

"S-sure. Sure!"

Shuuhei and Kira fell into a comfortable pace, talking about nothing and everything at the same time, Kira's hand ever present over his belly.

"Have you thought about any names?"

Kira closed his eyes as a warm smile graced his lips.

"Shizuka. It means 'tranquility'."

"That's a good name." Hisagi nodded as he agreed.

"Let's sit, please. I'm a bit tired."

Kira sighed as he rested on the grass of a hill overlooking Soul Society, his legs ever so open to accommodate his increased body size. Shuuhei sat close to him, caring very little about proper decorum regarding their relationship, Kira didn't seem to mind anyway.

"Shuuhei, what do you think will happen if I died?"

"Uhm, well, everyone would be very sad. Hinamori would probably cry a lot. A lot of people would miss you, including me..." he whispered the last part.

Kira nodded, his single eye reflecting the complicated emotions running through his head. "I see..."

"W-why do you ask Kira?"

Izuru ran his hand up and down his belly, slowly sending his reiatsu through to reach his baby. The baby steadily pulsed back.

"I...We are shinigami. Death gods. We deal with death all the time...but...I don't want Shizuka to die...and, I don't...I don't think I want to die either..."

Hisagi kept looking ahead, at the sunset as Kira softly laid his head on his shoulder. Slowly, he placed a hand on the smaller blonde's shoulder, trying to be comforting without any words.

Izuru sniffled a bit as few tears ran down his face into the ground below.

Shuuhei thought that this was probably the love of a mother, the person who would give his life to her child but at the same time feared the life of said child without her presence. Or his, in Izuru's case.

_'I love Kira,' _Shuuhei thought._ 'I can't deny it. And I think he might love me back, if he trusted me enough to tell me this and be sure that I would give him comfort. But...do I love him enough to love a child that isn't mine?'_

_To be continued..._

Shizuka - 静- peaceful, quiet, tranquility

Sooo...starting the next chapter is gonna be a lot of drama drama drama. Update will be tomorrow because next Monday will be a national holiday in Mexico. Please leave a comment, thank you for reading.


	4. Slowly opening his heart

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 4**

Ever the party girl, Matsumoto eventually organized a small baby shower for Kira and Hanatarou. Ukitake had been invited too, but the Captain was currently busy with a very light fever. Normally nothing to worry about, but neither Kurotsuchi nor Unohana nor Kyoraku wanted to risk it with the pregnancy.

The apparently small get-together soon grew a bit of out proportion. Everyone wanted to take the chance to congratulate Kira and Hana, and eat some of the free food offered.

Kira kept quite busy going here and there to meet and greet guests, invited or not. On the other hand, Hanatarou had to stay seated due to the baby's growth, that because of his smaller body looked more prominent. Kira had a rather small tummy anyway according to Unohana.

"Kira-chan! Kira-chan! Ken-chan says it's okay to put my hands on your belly if you let me!!"

Kira smiled at the pink-haired lieutenant's innocence. "Go ahead, please."

Fascinated, Yachiru pressed her hands gently against Kira's rounded belly, her eyes growing wide and mouth forming an 'o' shape. Kira could feel Shizuka pulsing back at Yachiru's energy. He'd taken the habit of calling his baby already by his name.

"Wow!! I can feel it!! I can feel it!!" She exclaimed, excited since it was the first time she saw a pregnant person. The nearby shinigami chuckled at her cute innocence.

"Yachiru-san, why don't you try feeling for Yamada-san's baby too?" Shuuhei suggested as he walked over. Kira's smile changed so very slightly at the sigh of the other lieutenant.

"Ok!" A pink flash was all that was left of the little girl as she looked for the other pregnant shinigami.

Shuuhei and Kira just looked at each other for a while, smiling, before Shuuhei broke the silence.

"I never really congratulated you properly. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Kira almost blushed.

Hesitantly, Shuuhei reached to touch Kira's belly with his fingertips. Izuru smiled and took Shuuhei's hand to press it fully against it so that he could feel Shizuka completely. Shuuhei's eyes widened slightly in fascination.

"Wow...I can feel it."

Izuru smiled, knowingly. "I'm glad."

* * *

Yachiru wandered around, slightly bored. Hanatarou had let her touch his belly as well, but Ganju had shoo'ed her away after a while. Apparently, his lover wasn't feeling so well, as he was having a hard time willing the little piece of cake he had eaten to stay in his stomach. It had been such a good cake.

She was starting to think on how to entertain herself in the loudest way possible when she spotted Yumichika talking to Matsumoto. The 5th Seat of her Division always played good games, like that time with the tea party, or dressing up, or drawing on Ikkaku's head with markers.

"Funky Eyebrow!!" Yachiru threw herself at the man, attempting to wrap her arms completely around his middle.

"Yachiru-chan!" Matsumoto laughed at her antics. Yumichika wasn't so amused, but he tried to entertain her. She was fun to be with most of the time, when she wasn't as annoying.

He smiled composedly at her and found the little girl with an uncharacteristically serious face.

"Funky Eyebrow...why does your tummy feel like Kira-chan's and Hana-chan's?"

Yumichika's face visibly contorted as he excused himself and quietly, but quickly exited the party, leaving a few confused shinigami behind, including his lieutenant.

* * *

"Ganju-san...I'm not feeling so good..."

At that simple statement, the Shiba heir picked up his tiny boyfriend and went to excuse themselves to Matsumoto and Kira, since they were the organizer and fellow experiment, respectively.

Ganju carried Hana on his back all the way as he walked back home. Riding on Bonnie was not a possibility anymore because Hanatarou got extremely sick just from getting on, and Unohana had insisted in Hanatarou having as little stress as possible.

"How you doing, Hana?"

"Good...Ganju-san..." Hanatarou spoke in a soft voice, just above a whisper.

The Shiba male nodded and continued on his way. A few months ago, when Ganju learned of Hanatarou's pregnancy, he'd moved in to Hanatarou's flat to take care of him better and give him support, the guy was so small and sickly after all! Kuukaku had also moved her house closer by, just in case...of anything...

"Hana, you know you don't have to call me Ganju-san anymore, just Ganju is fine."

"Ok."

Arriving home, Ganju placed Hanatarou on the couch, the small shinigami letting out a sigh and rubbing his overgrown belly.

"Do you need anything, Hana?"

"No. Maybe a glass of water?"

Hana wasn't too worried about not being able to eat anything, he could eat the occasional snacks and the vitamins and supplements managed to stay in his stomach, and his baby was still growing too. Ganju was excited about that.

_'Ganju...' _Hana thought sadly, he was so excited about it, he was already building a crib for the baby, saying that it would be better to spend money on stuff other than what they could make themselves. Even Kuukaku had come to congratulate him personally when they first found out. Everyone was so happy about it, so how could he tell them that the baby was not Ganju's?

_To be continued..._

Ooh, drama! The following chapters will have drama too, hopefully of the good kind. Uh, lesse, next update will be probably on Friday and then on Monday, and from then on on Mondays, yeah. Is everyone okay with that? Updates on Monday? Or would you rather have them on Fridays?


	5. I want to protect you

**Kataritsugu Koto  
Chapter 5**

Ikkaku walked through the streets of Seireitei happily. He'd gone to see Yumichika at Matsumoto's get together and take the chance to congratulate Kira and Hanatarou, but Yumi had already left when he arrived and apparently pretty upset about something according to a few witnesses. Ikkaku suposed that one of Yumichika's feather's had fallen or something like that, so he ate and drank a bit before going off in search of his boyfriend.

He and Yumichika had been friends for the longest time, so becoming lovers seemed like the obvious next step. Not that he didn't love Yumichika, he loved the vain shinigami the exact way he was and would continue to love him for centuries to come, but lately he had been in particular mood, or more like too many moods, one second Yumi would be happy and gushing over Ikkaku and the next he would be extremely pissed off before breaking into tears and looking for the nearest sake bar.

By chance, he passed by the 4th Division, and by chance Yumichika was coming out of it, a depressed expression on his face. Ikkaku didn't notice so he grinned as he walked closer.

"Oi! Yumichika! I was looking for you at--hey, what's wrong?"

Ikkaku opened his arms for him but Yumi stepped back and tightened his arms around himself.

"I'm two months in..."

"What?"

"I'm pregnant, Ikkaku."

If Ikkaku had been holding something, it would have found itself face first on the ground. Ikkaku stared slack-jawed at his boyfriend, eyes widening the size of platters.

"Wh-what?"

"Unohana-taicho just tested me. I'm two months pregnant. Kurotsuchi-taicho says that his formula must have continued to have effect. Oh my God, Ikkaku, what are we gonna do?"

Yumichika's voice cracked a bit as he raised a hand to cover his face, lowering his head a bit. Ikkaku reacted and stepped forward, embracing his love.

"It's gonna be okay, it'll be okay baby, we're gonna be fine." The bald man spoke softly as Yumi started to sob against his shoulder.

"No. No, we didn't want this, you didn't want this..."

"We don't have a choice, we'll do okay."

"I...I want to abort..."

Ikkaku held Yumichika's shoulders to separate him and look at him in the eye.

"If you say that again I'll slap you. I won't let you kill an innocent life. It's not his fault."

Yumichika sniffled, lowering his face. "I'm sorry...but I...we can't be good parents, Ikkaku. We could die any day, you can't keep your hands off sake and I can't concentrate in anything but...myself..."

Heavy tears started to fall down Yumi's eyes in both shame and anguish. Ikkaku hugged him again.

"We'll do okay, Yumi. Don't you think Kira is under the same risk? And he's still going on with it, even without a partner. And you have me, babe."

The prettier shinigami wiped his tears and attempted to smile.

"Ok. I'm sorry I said that...about aborting."

"You didn't know what to do, it's okay." Ikkaku leaned to kiss Yumichika's forehead.

"I'm glad you're with me."

"Me too Yumi, me too." Ikkaku placed a hand on Yumichika's plain stomach, soon to swell with another life.

"Let's hope he or she turns out as pretty as you."

Yumichika smiled and kissed Ikkaku. "Yes, let's."

* * *

Kira sighed contentedly as he sat down for the first time in three hours. Shizuka pulsed a little stronger and Kira rubbed his hand over his stomach. Matsumoto's party was still going on and it looked like it would continue for a couple of more hours.

"Mama is just tired, Shizuka." Kira explained, Shizuka's energy calming down as if he could really hear him.

Shuuhei walked over, offering a glass of water. "Tired?"

"Just a little. It's strange...with the pregnancy I don't feel as tired as I should, I even feel more energetic if it were possible," he chuckled.

"Then, maybe it is possible." Shuuhei chuckled along as he sat down next to him.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Hisagi-san?"

"Kira, you don't have to call me Hisagi, it's Shuuhei."

"Well, yes, but..." Kira hesitated. To him, to call someone by his or her first name was a sign of great friendship or intimacy, and the last time he'd called Shuuhei Shuuhei was when they were still together. Occasionally he slipped, mostly because he still cared and thought about Shuuhei, but since they were no longer together...

"Listen, Kira...right now might not be the right moment, but...I've been thinking a lot about it lately and...I still love you, I never wanted us to be apart from the beginning so...w-what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Kira flinched a little as he realized he was, in fact, crying. With a short laugh, he reached up to touch his cheek and find it wet.

"I don't understand...I'm so happy right now..."

"Izuru..."

"Hisagi...Shuuhei...I love you too...and I need you so much right now..."

Shuuhei wrapped his arms securely around Kira as the younger man almost threw himself at him, hugging him as tight as he could.

They stayed like that for a long moment, long enough for each of them to get reacquainted with each other's warmth, the shape of their bodies, the strength of their arms, and everything else they could have missed in the short period they were apart.

"I missed you, Shuuhei..."

"Me too, Izuru..."

* * *

Renji squeezed Ichigo's hand as they walked down the streets to Renji's flat. Matsumoto's party was far from over, but they wanted some private time for themselves too and it hadn't been so long since they had gotten together.

Ichigo edged close enough to hold his arm in a manner that would've seem girly to some, but Ichigo just liked the closeness, and Renji hadn't mentioned anything about disliking the gesture.

"Renji..."

"Hmm?"

"If I had turned out pregnant...what would you've done?"

Renji doesn't answer for a little while as he thinks on an answer, what would have he done?

"Well...if your dad didn't have anything to say, I would've kept you here with me for starters. Made sure that you were happy and comfortable, that our kid wouldn't be in need of anything..."

"Would you have married me?"

"I...well, I guess...if you really wanted too..."

Ichigo didn't seem very satisfied by that answer but kept close to Renji anyway. No point in getting into a pointless argument about something that didn't happen.

"How's Urahara-san doing?"

"Good. He moved to our house because it's getting so hard for him to move around and do stuff, and we can take better care of him that way. He's emptying our food stock though, and 30 percent of the time it ends up in the toilet anyway. "

Renji chuckled as Ichigo pouted and punched his arm.

"You would've had to deal with it too if you knocked me up!"

"Yeah, but I didn't, so I guess I got lucky." Renji teased.

Ichigo frowned and turned away, letting go of Renji. The red head immediately tried to make things better, wrapping his arm around the smaller man's shoulders and kissing the top of his head.

"Hey, sorry. Lemme make it up to you, ok?"

Ichigo continued to pout a little more but eventually he just couldn't resist Renji's charm and turned to him again.

"Alright, but we gotta be careful this time."

"Yeah. Wouldn't wanna get a bun in your oven just yet."

"Renji!"

_To be continued..._

More drama!! I think I missed an omake that I wrote afterwards...it's in my LJ but I'll post it later on here as well.


	6. I don’t wanna cry no more

**Kataritsugu Koto  
Chapter 6**

Ichigo stepped quietly into Urahara's room. The guest room had been accommodated to also include a crib and rocking chair. His father had insisted that Urahara should stay with them for the first few months after the birth, just to be sure and be close in case of anything.

Kisuke was asleep on the rocking chair, a very slight smile on his face. Ichigo placed the extra blanket on the bed and turned to walk out but he got distracted as he looked at the store owner.

He looked completely at ease, without any malice or secret in his face, he even dared to think he looked blissful. Quietly, Ichigo walked closer and kneeled close to him. He'd seen pregnant women before, and he'd seen Kira and Hanatarou at Matsumoto's party last week, but he was still curious about Urahara. Gently he placed a hand on the older man's belly, feeling the slight movement inside.

Checking to see if the man was still asleep, he pressed his ear to Kisuke's belly but a hand over his head spooked him. Jerking away, he looked up at Urahara's smiling face, his hand still on Ichigo's hair.

"Hey. Whatcha doing?" He spoke softly, still a bit asleep.

"Uh, ummm, sorry."

"It's okay. Go ahead."

Ichigo gulped, hesitantly he pressed his head to Urahara's belly, hearing a very faint heartbeat inside.

"Wow...Have you...though of any names?"

Kisuke sighed, contently. "Kosuke, if it's a boy. If it's a girl...I don't know, probably something generic like Aiko or Minako."

Ichigo hummed as he continued to listen to the little life inside the store-owner. Kisuke happily allowed him to, gently brushing Ichigo's hair back.

* * *

Ganju hummed happily as he walked back home. It seemed like everyday he was happier, and with good reason, his little Hana-chan was pregnant.

He never really planned to have children with Hanatarou, the guy was a guy, and he'd apologized profusely to his sister for not bringing the Shiba family any heirs. Kuukaku had huffed and hit him over the head, saying it was fine if they were in love, and that had been that.

Hana was plenty happy to be with Ganju, he always smiled around him and seemed to be in better spirits right after Ganju visited him during his shifts at the Fourth Division. But now his little Hana looked so tired everyday. Ganju had attributed it to the pregnancy, the stress of it and malnutrition from not being able to hold anything down. But lately he was starting to think that it wasn't just all about the pregnancy, something else was bothering the meek shinigami and it was starting to bother him.

Ganju opened the door and gave an energetic 'I'm home.'. Hanatarou was sitting on the couch, clutching his zanpakuto like a life-line, his eyes unfocused.

"Hana?" The bigger man walked closer, carefully. The shinigami raised his head, but didn't smile like he often did when his lover arrived.

"Ganju-san...I need to talk to you..."

"Sure. What the matter?" Ganju attempted to walk closer, but stopped when Hanatarou clutched the sword tighter.

"Ganju-san...I've been pregnant for five months now...but, there's something I need you to know..."

Ganju blinked and just continued to look at him. Hanatarou fumbled about a little, biting his lower lip.

"It's...it's not yours..."

"What?"

"I-it's...I'm so sorry--"

"Whose is it then? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I wanted to...B-but you seemed so excited about it, that I--"

"That what?! You were just gonna let me believe that it was my child while it was someone else's!!"

"No...n-no..."

"Then what?! And why me?! Because I was there!? Because I was convenient!? Why don't you go back to that fucking basta--"

"I WAS RAPED!!"

Ganju stoped his tirade as Hanatarou began to cry uncontrollably into his hands. Ganju stared for a long moment before gaining his senses back and hurrying over, sitting close and wrapping his arms around his little boyfriend.

"Hana...I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Well of course you didn't know, I just told you."

There was a slight venom in Hanatarou's voice, but Ganju ignored that in favor of comforting his lover.

About an hour later, Hanatarou continued to sniffle but he wasn't crying a river anymore. Ganju still held him tight, but gentle enough not to hurt the baby.

"Can I ask...wh-who did it..." Hantarou sighed at the question.

"Doesn't matter..."

"Doesn't matter? Hana he raped you! We have to--"

"Doesn't matter because they're dead already. Remember last week's hollow? The one that ate shinigami? Well...it ate them..."

Ganju didn't say anything about the plural, it was already terrible enough that his little Hanatarou had already been defiled like that to ask anymore questions that could make him relive that ordeal.

"...No one has to know. I don't want more people to know."

"But..."

"No! Ganju-san...I only need you..."

Ganju would've cried at that moment if it wasn't for the gravity of the situation and Hana just kept talking.

"I want you to be my baby's father...if you'll still have me..."

Ganju smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of Hanatarou's head.

"Of course I will."

_To be continued..._

Yeah, poor Hana...Next update will probably be on Monday or Wednesday. Chapters are becoming a little short, but I promise there's good stuff coming up! And please review, it makes me happy and gets my writing juices going.


	7. How much longer will it last baby

**"How much longer will it last baby"**

Six months. For six months Izuru had been pregnant, and for a month now, he and Shuuhei had been back together.

Nobody was particularly surprised, they thought it was the natural way of things for Shuuhei to end up with Izuru, and Shuuhei was beginning to think so too. Izuru had yet to move into Shuuhei's flat but they were planning to do so. Soon. And Izuru still went alone to his check-ups with, it was kinda weird for Shuuhei to simply show up like that and say he was the patient's boyfriend, Izuru told him everything afterwards anyway.

But there was still something that bothered him. Izuru had not told him who was his child's father.

Shuuhei tapped his pen against his leg. He was supposed to finish those papers today but his mind was preoccupied with everything but work. With a sigh, he lightly slapped himself. "Get it together, Shuuhei."

Two seconds later, the door opened, Kira's voice wafting in. "Shuu? Are you busy?"

"No. Come in, Izuru." Shuuhei shoved the papers under the couch and smiled, Izuru always made him smile.

Izuru walked in to the living room a second later, smiling brightly, he was always in a happy mood lately. Sitting down, he placed a kiss on Shuuhei's cheek, Hisagi kissed him back and then laid his head on Izuru's belly.

Shizuka moved around a bit and Shuuhei could feel it. Kira smiled and placed a hand on Shuuhei's head, brushing his hair a bit and massaging his scalp.

Shuuhei sighed, almost falling asleep. "Izuru, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

Shuuhei raised his head and sat back to look right into Kira's eyes.

"Shuu?"

Contrary to what the normal reaction of the 11th Division would be, they were pretty happy that the Division was getting their own baby, even at the expense of their 5th Seat. Even Kenpachi was happy, patting as gently as he could Yumichika's shoulder and then giving Ikkaku a big slap on the back.

Three months into the pregnancy and everybody was excited to see Yumichika start showing already, but when he didn't they just supposed it would be like Kira-fukutaicho's pregnancy.

"At least you won't have to worry about looking so fat," someone commented in good nature, but Yumichika did worry.

Yachiru had orders that forbid her from coming close to Yumichika. Knowing the habit that girl had of randomly glomping people enough to hurt, who knew what would happen to a pregnant person.

Still, that didn't take away the fact that Yumichika was probably the best person to take care of Yachiru, and Yachiru had grown attached to the dainty shinigami.

Through much insistence, Kenpachi was finally convinced to escort Yachiru to see Yumichika, he hadn't been out in a few weeks and the women of his squad had become a little restless, worried; Yachiru herself felt something was slightly amiss and wanted to make sure that her caretaker was alright, even if she wouldn't be able to glomp him.

Yachiru was singing some silly song when captain and lieutenant arrived at the Seat's door. It was a surprise visit; more like an impromptu visit since only today Kenpachi had decided that he had enough with Yachiru's pestering. Besides, Ikkaku was away on a mission to the human world and Yumichika would need someone to see for his needs (or at least that was the lame-ass excuse Kenpachi planned to give, he was worried too.)

Kenpachi opened the door and faced a thick, despairing reiatsu. Zaraki knew that Yumichika loved Ikkaku with all his heart and occasionally got depressed when his lover went on a long absence, but this was just too much! Something was definitely wrong.

"Yachiru, stay here."

The girl was too young to understand the feelings in the reiatsu, so she obeyed wordlessly as she was dropped from her trusty shoulder mount to wait for her Captain, it was almost like he was going into a cave to face an unbeatable arrancar.

Kenpachi trudged carefully as he walked between waves of despair and anguish, laced with fear and pain in them, and he was sure that all of it was coming from his 5th Seat.

Slowly, he turned a corner to go into what he knew was the bedroom and from where the reiatsu was emanating from. "Yumichika."

Yumi turned his head at the voice of his captain, his beautiful face was stricken with a look of fear as he sat in the futon, a small trickle of blood coming from him and staining his kimono.

"Ta-taicho..."

"Shuu?"

"Izuru...am I...Shizuka's father?"

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Kira looked at Shuuhei as calmly as he could, but his eyes were widened in a particular way, the same way when he was surprised or caught off guard.

Kira looked away, he couldn't stand looking at Shuuhei at the moment, silently pleading for the truth. They weren't the same eyes like when he asked the question first, that day at Kira's doorstep, those had been hard, fearful and doubtful, now he was asking for the truth, just that; a little peace of mind.

Looking up again, Izuru gazed into Shuuhei's eyes.

"I don't know...I seriously don't know."

"Wha?"

"Th-the dates are so close together...that I'm not sure which of you..."

Kira trailed off, his voice would have cracked if he continued on anyway. Shuuhei stayed quiet as well. The silence stretched on for what seemed to be hours, neither of them daring to look at the other in the eye. Izuru unconsciously wrapped his arms around his unborn child, afraid that something or someone would harm him. Kurotsuchi-taichou had warned him that sudden fluctuations in his reiatsu could be harmful to his baby (and recommended that he be as "happy" as possible), so Kira began taking deep breaths to calm himself, only it wasn't working, he could feel the air evading him and he began to hyperventilate just as his eyes also began to water in distress.

'Shuuhei will hate me. He won't want Shizuka anymore. What'll I do? What do I do? My poor Shizuka, my baby. If Shuuhei hates us...And your father...'

One breath managed to reach Kira's lung and he grew more aware of his surroundings, of Shuuhei's voice calling him.

"-ru! Izuru! Breath. Just breath. You had a nervous attack."

Kira registered it, understood it, but the tears just kept falling from his eyes.

"Izuru? What's wrong love? Why are you crying?" Shuuhei moved closer. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ask. You don't have to tell, and if you don't know that's alright too." He hugged Kira as he spoke, but Kira didn't respond.

"Don't worry please, Izuru. I love you. And I love Shizuka too, even if he's not my child, because he's yours, and that's reason enough."

These words reached Kira's heart and he gave a little cry, burying his face into Shuuhei's shoulder as he gripped his strong back. He loved Shizuka and he loved Shuuhei, and Shuuhei loved them both back. For now, that was enough.


	8. Many tears I shed

**Kataritsugu Koto  
Chapter 8**

"Taicho...why did my baby die?"

Yumichika stared with unfocused eyes at his hands, his head hanging almost lifelessly. Earlier, Kenpachi had immediately grabbed him and shunpo'd to the 4th Division, bellowing for someone to call Unohana immediately.

Right now, both captains and Kurotsuchi were in Yumichika's room, looking at the broken shinigami. Unohana stepped forward to explain what they knew in her gentlest voice.

"We think that...because you got pregnant while Kurotsuchi-taicho's medicine was losing it's effect, your body couldn't adapt properly for the baby."

Yumichika sniffled quietly. "So, what will happen now?"

"We just removed the fetus from you, you should be alright in a few days." Kurotsuchi explained, being thoughtful enough to not speak in a disregarding or callous way.

The 5th Seat didn't answer, his eyes were still unfocused. Unohana quietly ushered the other two captains out, but Kenpachi ignored her for a moment.

"I sent for Ikkaku immediately, he should be back later today or tomorrow."

Yumichika didn't react at Kenpachi's words, but Kenpachi knew that he'd listened. He turned around to leave the room when his subordinate's voice drifted over to him, small and broken.

"What...was it?"

"...it was a boy, Yumichika."

Silence reigned for a few moments until Kenpachi heard Yumichika take a small breath, almost like a sob.

"Thank you, captain."

* * *

Kuukaku took a big gulp of her sake, slamming it down on the table before looking at Hanatarou in front of her.

"So? What is it that you want?"

Hana couldn't help but shake a little, wrapping his thin arms around his belly without making it too noticeable that he was doing it.

"Uh, uhmm...I...wanted to discuss something with you, Kuukaku-oneesama."

Hanatarou called her that out of respect because she was his boyfriend's sister. Kuukaku had already told him that he didn't need to call her that, but she loved to hear it anyway.

"Ok, and with did you want to discuss?"

"Ummm, my baby's name..."

"Huh? Isn't that something that you should discuss with Ganju?"

"Y-yes but, I wanted to ask you for permission first."

"Hmmm?" Kuukaku was mildly interested now.

"I-I...I wanted to name him...Kaien..."

There was a pause from both of them, Hanatarou continued to shake in fearful anticipation.

"...no."

"W-what?"

"I said no. Your child cannot be called Kaien."

"I see...m-may I ask why?"

"I'm glad you do. You see, I'd love it if your kid would be named Kaien, I would be very honored, but that boy needs a name of his own. That boy needs to follow his own destiny and not think he needs to follow after my brother's footsteps. Do you understand, Hanatarou?"

"Yes. I think I do..."

"Well, good. Now go off and think of another name."

"I...actually thought of one already." Hanatarou had stopped shaking and now had a light blush on his cheeks.

"Hmm? Good, what is it then."

"It's...Hibari."

"Hibari. That's a good name."

Hanatarou smiled, rubbing his belly gently. His baby would have a good daddy and grow up in a good family with lots of love. As long as that happened, Hanatarou would be content.

* * *

"Ah! Hitsugaya-taichou!"

Toshiro turned around to look at a smiling Ukitake-taichou walking over, rather slowly. Hitsugaya's eyes went from the captain's merry face to his enlarged stomach.

"Toshiro-kun. Long time no see."

The smaller captain raised an eyebrow at the nickname but didn't comment on it. "Indeed. How've you been Ukitake-taichou?" He didn't really feel like having a conversation, Hitsugaya was just being polite.

Jyuushiro chuckled and rubbed his belly. "I've been alright. Shunsui worries too much, but I've been fine, although I've been getting a lot of cravings. Speaking of which! Here you go!"

The taller captain reached into his sleeves and took out a bag of strawberry flavored candy. "Sorry I don't have more, but...they looked so yummy I ate them." Ukitake commented with a small smile and a sweat-drop.

Hitsugaya just frowned as he took the bag, holding it in his hands as he looked at the label.

"Umm, is something wrong, Toshiro? I'll bring you more candy next time." He said in a quivering voice.

"N-no, it's alright! Really! I just..."

Jyuushiro cocked his head to the side. "What's the matter?"

"No-nothing! I should leave now! I have duties--"

As Hitsugaya turned, a hand shot out to grab his wrist and pull him into a hug. Ukitake ignored the fact that he was pregnant and gently but tightly hug Hitsugaya against him. Toshiro didn't struggle for fear of hurting him and allowed himself to be hugged, a small tint of red appearing in his cheeks.

"Umm...Ukitake-taicho..."

"Oh, sorry..." Jyuushiro let go of Hitsugaya a little, enough to look down at him with a smile. "You just looked like you needed a hug."

Hitsugaya could've sworn that right then, Ukitake-taicho's smiling face looked just like his grandmother's, it must've been the glow that comes with being a mother or birthing parent.

"It...it must be your hormones, Ukitake-taichou?" Hitsugaya turned his blushing face away.

"Maybe. But you know, I didn't buy you those candies so you'd eat them alone."

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"I mean...how should I say this?" Ukitake put a thoughtful face before beaming with the answer. "It's always better to enjoy something with someone you like, don't you think?"

"I-I suppose..."

Jyuushiro smiled at himself, feeling accomplished.

"But...what if the person you like...likes someone better?" Hitsugaya looked down and away from the other captain, trying to hide away his completely reddened face while Ukitake thought on that one.

"Well...that doesn't mean that person likes you any less. And besides, you'd want that person to be his happiest, wouldn't you?" Ukitake's smile and voice turned soft as he gave hidden love advice to his fellow captain.

"Well, I should go now. See you later, Toshiro-kun."

"Yeah, later..."

Hitsugaya stayed behind and thought and thought and thought. And in his thoughts he had wandered around, soon finding himself facing the two people he didn't want to see. Apparently they were saying goodbye to each other. They kissed, mumbled something to each other, kissed again and each turned his own way.

As soon as he saw Hitsugaya, the young man waved and walked closer.

"Hey, Toshiro!"

"It's Captain Hitsugaya, Kurosaki."

"Whatever. Oh! Are those candy?"

"Y-yeah...Strawberry flavored..."

"I love those! Can I have some?"

"W-wanna eat them together?"

Ichigo regarded the smallest captain for a moment. Toshiro refused to look at him directly, a very light blush gracing the bridge of his nose and cheeks. Despite his many lives more than Ichigo, he looked like any other boy his sister's age. It was...endearing.

"Sure. I'd love to, eat them together." He smiled at the small captain.

Hitsugaya looked up and let himself smile back a little. Ukitake was right, as long as Ichigo could smile like that at him, he would be happy too.

_To be continued..._

Poor Yumichika...sorry for the late update, it was my birthday so I was busy this weekend, sorry. Please comment. Next update will be along this week, before Friday.


	9. Even my destiny can keep changing

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 9**

"Isshin, I'm gonna tell them."

Isshin spit the green tea he was drinking onto the file he had been holding in his hand.

"Wait, what!?"

"I'm going to tell them."

"Th-think about this, Kisuke! Think about what you're going to do!"

Isshin stood, showing his hands in a gesture of peace to Urahara as he tried to explain, shaking a bit from head to toe.

" Why don't you want them to know? Why do you want me to hide it?"

"They're kids Kisuke!! Please understand!"

Urahara stayed quiet for a moment before turning around, locking the door to Isshin's clinic as he left.

"No, wait!! Kisuke! Kisuke think of what you're doing!!"

In the meanwhile, Kisuke called Isshin's children down to the living room and sat down in front of them.

"As you know, I'm pregnant and your father has offered me to stay while I give birth."

The kids nodded, including Karin who looked mildly bored.

"What we haven't explained is how I got pregnant. Well, I know Ichigo-kun knows and you girls are to young to understand. But I think you should have the right to know who the father of my baby is."

Karin sighed. "I don't think we need to hear this. As long as it isn't our old man."

"How'd you know? I thought it was a secret." Urahara was mildly surprised.

All three Kurosaki siblings stared at the blonde man in front of him. Their father had impregnated him? They weren't so much surprised that the man was pregnant by their father, but whatever had happened to Masaki and all those declarations of love to the poster?

Yuzu was the first to speak. "So, uh, do we have to call you 'mommy' now?"

Urahara stared for a moment before laughing gently in amusement.

"No honey, I'm not gonna marry your dad."

"But, then your kid is gonna be our half-brother or sister." Ichigo stated.

Kisuke's eyes turned softer. "By blood, yes."

"I'm gonna bash that old man's head in. Keeping a secret like this." Karin grumbled and went to find Isshin to carry out her threat, Yuzu followed her to try and stop her from killing Isshin.

Ichigo stayed seated, staring a little at his hands. "Ichigo-kun?" Ichigo raised his eyes to look at Urahara.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean this to happen. If want you don't have to consider it your sibling too." Urahara's face looked a little worried.

Ichigo sighed and stared again at his hands. "I...well...I guess I'd like a little brother now." He smiled.

Kisuke smiled as well, relieved. "Thank you."

* * *

Yumichika stared at the carved words at the height of his eyes. He'd asked Ikkaku to make a little monument for his baby and the bald man had complied with no questions.

_Ayasegawa Katsuhaya._

Written with the kanji for 'one' and 'brave'. Yumichika had chosen it, he knew Ikkaku liked names with 'one' so he'd made sure to have it in mind. On the other hand, he'd kept his last name on the baby's name, he didn't want to disgrace Ikkaku with his first child being a dead child. And he wanted to keep him close to his heart.

Gently, he traced the name with his fingers, the cold stone almost burning in his fingers. He moved closer from his kneeling position and pressed his forehead to the monument.

"Momma loved you very much Katsuhaya."

He let a few tears drop and stood up, wiping his tears with his sleeve.

Everyone had respected Yumichika by leaving him alone, giving him only the proper greetings and expressing their sentiments if they had been close to the 5th Seat.

Only Ikkaku was there with him, standing a pretty good deal away, watching Yumichika shed his tears. As he came closer, Ikkaku opened his arms for Yumichika, who immediately buried himself in, looking for warmth and comfort.

They could try again, Kurotsuchi-taicho had said there wasn't any damage and Yumichika could take the solution again to get pregnant. But first Yumichika had to get well, get better, get a bit over the sadness of miscarrying his first baby, even though that sadness would never really leave him.

_To be continued..._

There's a lot of drama revolving around Yumichika now, I feel bad for making him miscarry but it's something that happens unfortunately. My heart goes to those who lost a baby before it could be born.

Yumi's baby's name is written 一勇, the first kanji is the kanji for 'one' (the kanji is in Ichigo and Ikkaku's names) and the second kanji is the kanji for bravery, courage or heroism. There's lots of way to read those two kanji together, but Katsuhaya seemed like something Yumichika would choose so I went with that. I considered other names, but this one jumped to me immediately.

Next update will be this weekend.


	10. Tears flow down from a clear blue sky

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 10**

"No no, you gotta place it a little more up. Right here. Yeah, right there. Can you feel it now?"

Shunsui smiled at finally feeling the kicks from his little one. He and Jyuushiro were happy and anxious, Kurotsuchi-taicho had predicted that Ukitake-taichou's baby would be first to be born, then Kira's and then Urahara's and Hanatarou's.

"I hope it's a boy..."

Shunsui raised his head a bit to look at his lover. "Oh? Why?"

"Because if it's a girl you would totally spoil her all the time." Ukitake chastised gently, smiling at the though of his lover going gaga for only one girl finally.

Kyoryaku laughed gently at the accusation, knowing that it was completely true.

"Well, even if you say that, I hope it's gonna be a girl." The 8th Division Captain smiled and placed his head on Jyuushiro's engorged belly.

"Let's hope, Shunsui. Let's hope..."

* * *

Antsy was the right word for him, yeah. Izuru was antsy. He was seven months pregnant now and he supposed this was as big as he would get. He didn't have as much trouble walking, unlike Ukitake taichou who was huge, or Hanatarou-kun who's feet had swelled.

Kira felt lucky about having an easy pregnancy, his back hurt from time to time but it was normal.

With a sigh, Izuru sat on the rocking chair the 3rd Division had bought for him. He and Shuuhei had painted the room a soft blue with yellow accents. Most of the furniture they'd gotten from the living world thanks to Ichigo, most of it white. The crib, the changer, a little dresser, even the closet Shuuhei had insisted in buying was white. The only colorful things in the room besides the wall were around purple carpet and a number of small animal plushies he'd fallen in love with. They were just so cute!

Everything seemed to be ready for Shizuka, now they just had to wait until the due date.

But he was too antsy to wait!

"I'll go take a walk."

Easier said than done. His shinigami robes had stopped fitting a few months back, and now he was forced to wearing regular kimonos and yukatas. Not that he didn't like them, they were comfy, but he didn't want to be thought of as a girl.

Just as he turned a corner, a familiar orange color came into view, sitting languidly with a bottle of sake barely out of reach.

"5th Seat Ayasegawa?"

Yumi raised his head a bit before turning away. He did not need this right now, he did not need to see Izuru's full belly from having a healthy baby inside.

With a bit of work, Izuru sat in front of him, worried.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm just fine. I'm just dandy, can't you see?" There was a bit of an edge in Yumichika's voice, but Izuru ignored it.

"I...heard what happened...I'm really sorry."

"If you came to pity me, stop. I've had enough of that already. Haven't you wondered why I'm so far from the 11th? It's because I can't stand everyone looking at me like I'm a piece of broken porcelain!"

"Ah-I'm..."

"Don't say it!! Don't say your sorry!" Yumi started crying. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of everything! I want my baby boy back! And then you come by, flaunting around your big belly at me! You don't understand me!"

Izuru gently reached for Yumichika's hand, gripping it softly.

"I...I do understand, Yumichika."

He was crying too. Silent tears.

"If...Shizuke were to die now while still inside me...I don't think...I don't think I could ever get better..."

Yumichika stared at him for a second. It wasn't Kira's fault that his baby was growing well while Yumichika's had not. And just the same, Kira's pregnancy could go wrong at any second. He didn't have to have a miscarriage to understand, they both had carried another life inside them, and that was enough for them to connect.

"Kira...I'm so sorry Kira..."

Yumichika started crying, really crying, letting out all his suppressed feelings. Calmly, Izuru wiped the tears from his own eyes and wrapped his arms around Yumichika, the man needed comfort, and not just the comfort of his partner or friends, the comfort of someone who could understand the pain in his heart.

_To be continued..._

Nothing much to say this chapter. Please review, I like to hear people's opinion. Oh, and a special dedication to Luthiena 'cause she asked for more Uki/Shun, hope you liked it, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed up 'till now, I really appreciate it you guys


	11. As it shines in your heart

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 11**

One advantage to being in the 4th division was the fact that they could borrow medical equipment at any time, for any reason. And that allowed Hanatarou the chance to hear his baby with a regular stethoscope, or watch him on a monitor, even though Unohana had told him not to do it too often.

Hibari had started to suck his thumb and it was so cute! Even though it came with a lot of hazards. For starters, it was hard to walk around now because his feet were swollen and after a while he had to sit down. He could ride on Bonnie now, but even Ganju didn't think it was the safest thing so...

And then there were the cravings. He didn't have it as bad as Ukitake-taichou but Hanatarou's just happened to happen in the middle of the night, and Ganju had to be quick about it otherwise Hana wouldn't want the food afterwards.

They still had a pretty happy life. Ganju turned out to be very understanding about everything and pretty much waited on foot and hand to whatever of Hana's desires.

"Ah! Hibari-chan, don't kick momma so hard..."

* * *

"Isshin? Are you angry?"

"..."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"..."

"Isshin?"

The man stood from his spot at the table, going over to the counter to refill his cup of coffee.

"Isshin, don't do this. They took it pretty well. Even Ichigo is a little excited about it."

Isshin turned around, leaning against the kitchen counter ad he sipped his cup.

"It's not about that, Kisuke. I'm not angry that you told them, we had agreed that we would eventually do it. But I thought we would do it together, not just you on your own."

Kisuke's brow furrowed a bit before relaxing.

"I'm sorry..."

"You're never sorry."

"Well, now I am."

Both men stared at each other, trying to measure each other from the look in their eyes, the way the stood or sat, the way they gripped their own cups.

Urahara broke the eye contact first, giving a slight scoff before rubbing his belly. "I'm sick of this..."

Isshin sighed as well, placing his cup back on the table.

"Have you thought of any other names?"

"No," comes the sharp answer. Isshin frowns and tries to look at Kisuke, who only turns his face further away.

"What are you upset about?"

"I'm not upset, what makes you think that? I'm pissed off, but I'm not upset." If he could, Kisuke would've stormed off already, but his enlarged belly hindered his speed and agility to run away from the situation.

"Why are you pissed off?"

"Ok, stop. Don't try to fucking psychoanalyze me, Isshin."

"I'm not trying to-"

"Yes you are! Why can't you understand me! You call yourself a doctor but can't you see I'm having a mood swing!"

Isshin stared for a second, almost gaping.

"What?"

"You've heard me! That's what's been going on this whole week! Every hour I feel like I'm either gonna kills something, jump in joy or start crying...I hate it, I'm tired..."

Isshin stared for another while before grinning widely and going over to kiss him.

"Aw, baby! Was that it? Oh, honey, you should've told me before! I would've done whatever you wanted to make you happy!"

"Anything?"

"Anything!"

* * *

"Renji?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do, baby."

Ichigo frowned and laid back on his bed. Renji had come to visit but apparently he was busy browsing through Ichigo's magazines. Not that he minded, he didn't mind doing non-couple stuff together and just act like friends sometimes, what he hated was that Renji could be so dense about reading the atmosphere.

Ichigo didn't mean to be clingy, but he wanted some attention form his lover, especially now that his dad was so busy showering his attention on Urahara, same with the girls. Who would've thought he would miss the bustle of his crazy family...

"Renji?"

"Yeah?"

Ichigo frowned and moved to yank the magazine away from Renji.

"Hey!"

"Renji, look at me!"

"Okay okay! I'm looking at you!"

"Do you love me?"

"I do, baby. Seriously. Now what's gotten into you?"

Ichigo frowned a little more. "Get out."

"What?"

"Get out! Out!"

"Hey, is something wrong?" Renji asked softly, reaching a hand to gently touch Ichigo's cheek.

"Yes, you're here. I want you gone!"

"No, you don't."

Renji's face turned serious as he pinned Ichigo to his bed, the orange-haired boy struggling against him.

"Lemme go!"

"Why don't you tell me what's going on first?"

"There's nothing to say!"

"Then why are you angry?"

"I just am!"

"That's not a good reason."

"So?!"

"So...why don't you tell me what's really going on."

Ichigo turned his head to the side, trying to ignore Renji.

"Ichi..." Renji sighed. "Look, I'm not a mind reader. You gotta give me stuff to work with, subtle hints won't work on me. I can't tell your mood if you don't let me find out."

Ichigo still had his head turned, a scowl making deep lines in his normally handsome face. Renji looked at him for a while before leaning to kiss along his jawline.

"Renji..."

"I really love you, Ichi. With all my heart."

"Renji."

Renji kept kissing his face. Ichigo soon moaned softly and turned his head so his lips would meet Renji's.

"I love you too, Ren. Sorry I doubted you."

Renji smiled and leaned to kiss him again, letting go of Ichigo's arms to wrap their arms around each other. Soon the kiss turned a little heavy and Ichigo turn Renji over to straddle him.

They grinned at each other for a second before kissing again, Ichigo's fingers moving deftly to divest Renji of his clothes.

"Ichigooooo! Guess what! Where going on vacation! Kisuke and...oh."

Both Renji and Ichigo froze when Isshin opened the door, surprising them. Isshin knew about their relationship but had never caught them making out or worse.

Isshin's face was serious but soon broke into a lecherous grin. "Oooh, I get it. It's okay, you can stay and watch the house, Ichigo. Renji's welcome to make you company."

Isshin closed the door quietly and walked away, but his giggles could still be heard all the way from the stairs.

Ichigo's face was beat red as he got off of Renji. "So embarrasing!"

"Y-yeah. Hey, Ichigo..."

"No, sorry, that totally turned me off."

"Yeah, me too..."

_To be continued..._

Yeah, I figured you were all tired of only ShuuKira and IkkaYumi so here's a little something from the other couples.


	12. Defying the whirling wind

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 12**

Yumichika stared at the newly carved words on his baby's memorial stone.

_'Memento Mori'_

Yumichika stared at the candy left in a small bowl in front of the memorial stone.

Red little balls that tasted of cherry.

Yumichika stared at the man who had carved those words and placed that candy. "Ikkaku..."

Said man turned his head from his crouched position in front of the memorial stone, almost immediately standing as he saw Yumichika.

"Hey, Yumi."

"Did you carve that?"

"Yeah. Sorry. It means remember the dead."

Yumi blinked and looked at the bowl.

"And the candy?"

"Oh. That wasn't exactly me. Yachiru said she would've liked to share it with him."

"I see..."

Yumichika stepped forward to place fresh white flowers in front of the memorial stone (he hated to think of it as a tomb or similar). His talk with Kira had helped him a bit. Maybe it hadn't been meant to be, but it wasn't his fault, nor Kira's nor Katsuhaya's nor Ikkaku's, nor anyone's. He didn't have to be mad at anyone, sad, but not angry. It wouldn't be of any use anyway.

Ikkaku stood next to Yumichika and wrapped and arm around his shoulders, gently kissing his temple.

"Please don't forget that I'm this baby's daddy too..." Ikkaku whispered, to which Yumi nodded and leaned his head against his lover's shoulder. He still had Ikkaku, he could still try.

"You chose a good name."

"Thank you, Ikkaku."

"I love you, Yumi."

"I love you too."

* * *

Kira laid on the floor of his and Shuuhei's apartment. He wasn't sick or tired, he just wanted to lay down. The bed was too soft and made him feel like he was really sick, when he wasn't.

Shizuka gently made a move around his mother's belly and Izuru smiled. Shizuka didn't kick as much but he certainly moved a lot, like he was trying to fit better or find a better place to get comfortable. Shuuhei's eyes had widened and his expression had turned almost childlike the first time he felt it, that had been exciting. Izuru wondered how he would act when he finally saw Shizuka, Shizuka's first steps, first word...

"Shizuka..." Izuru whispered.

He wondered what his child would look like. Would he be blond? Would he be tall? What color would his eyes be? And if in the end it turned out to be a girl? Izuru enjoyed thinking of the possibilities, Shuuhei wanted Shizuka to be blond like Kira but they would have to wait until he was born.

Would he be a shinigami? Izuru had wondered about that one a lot. Being a child of two shinigami, and both prodigies in their youth, he supposed Shizuka's reiatsu would be at a pretty high level and would have to enter the Shinigami Academy when older. But in the meanwhile what? Izuru had no problem with home schooling him and he wanted Shizuka to play with other kids, even those in Rukongai (Shuuhei had been a bit apprehensive on that one).

Closing his eyes, Kira breathed in and relaxed. So far so good. Two more moths until the due date. But one question still remained, about Shizuka's father. Izuru was sure there was only two people who could be, Shuuhei was one and the other...he hoped it wasn't the other but the possibility still showing it's ugly head. Counting back on the weeks and days, he tried to remember with who he had slept and at what time, maybe he'd find out if he just thought about it real hard.

Shizuka shifted again and Izuru turned his head to a side, slowly falling asleep, still trying to remember who was Shizuka's father.

_To be continued..._

Next three chapter will be flashbacks. Please comment on yout way out and thanks to my regular readers, you know who you are Thanks


	13. There's a wish

**Kataristugu koto  
Chapter 13**

_(This is a flashback chapter)_

Nemu finished dropping the pills in the miso soup and closed the bottles. Kurotsuchi-taicho had ordered her to infiltrate every food stand in Seireitei and drop his formula into the food. Hopefully someone would actually react to the formula and actually get pregnant, but it was a pretty long shot, gay people were still a minority.

Infiltrating the food stands was actually pretty easy, the just had to say that the 12th Division were doing experiments and needed to take samples from the food. Well, they were doing experiments, just not about the food.

Miso soup, check. Next item, rice.

* * *

Kira tapped his pen against the form he was currently trying to figure out. It was a very simple form, just a transfer paper from the 3rd to the 12th Division. Easy. Just had to state the reason for the transfer and signed, no biggie. The problem was Ichimaru's indecipherable scribble across the paper, with ink blotches here and there, some even over important letters.

Izuru just hated it, but it was the price of being Ichimaru's fukutaicho. He generally liked the 3rd Division, he felt accomplished, even if he did get stepped on sometimes, or his subordinates didn't think him capable. The fact alone that he was fukutaicho should be proof enough of his ability.

But right now, his ability didn't extend as far as reading hieroglyphs. The captain was asleep on his desk, all he had to do was wake him up and ask him...but Ichimaru wasn't there...

Izuru sighed. "He must've gone drinking..."

He gathered all the paperwork that needed immediate attention and headed out for the 10th Division. If Gin was out drinking, then he would surely be found around his drinking buddy, Matsumoto.

Coincidentally, Shuuhei just happened to be on patrol with his captain. It was a more or less well-known fact that Kira and Hisagi were dating, they would meet, they would kiss, they would hold hands and eat together. It was cute.

Coming across them, Izuru bowed politely to Shuuhei and his captain. "Tousen-taicho."

Shuuhei blushed a little and returned the bow. "Hey, Kira..."

"Hey..." Kira blushed as well.

Tousen chuckled at both, young love could be so cute.

"Shuuhei, why don't you escort Kira-fukutaicho to wherever he has to go? I'll go on ahead."

"Ah! A-alright taicho..."

Kira blushed a little more but soon fell into stride with Shuuhei at his side. They had a funny relationship, even though they had been dating for a while, and had even dated during the academy, they were still a little shy around each other, especially around other people.

"So, uh, out on patrol...?"

"Yeah...Out on an errand?"

"N-no, not really. I need to ask taicho what his scribbles mean. Otherwise I can finish the rest of the reports."

"I see..."

The walked in silence for a couple of more minutes. Shuuhei's hand soon bumped lightly against Kira's side, who blushed and held out his hand for Shuuhei to take.

* * *

It would be a lie to say that Izuru had not had suitors during the academy. And not just because he was of low nobility or the top in class, he had a nice looking body, nice face and was generally cute, with a nice, gentle personality, soft-spoken and kind. The kind of guy even another guy would want his mom to meet. So Izuru had a nice pick of suitors, admirers and secret admirers.

Not as much as Shuuhei though. Shuuhei was the current prodigy of the school, brave, handsome, good grades, prematurely accepted in the Gotei 13, and who wouldn't want or envy a guaranteed position in any Division.

They did take a long time to find each other though.

Izuru had had dates, a little fact that a lot of people didn't know. And he enjoyed himself in every single one. Sometimes Renji would get pissed and even once recommended him to stop dating so much, but Kira wasn't considered a flirt or a slut, not at all. He'd had one or two boyfriends, although they ended quickly, for whatever reason.

Same thing had happened to Shuuhei, he'd dated, he'd had boyfriends and girlfriends. Not for very long though, Shuuhei had some issues with commitment, or so was the rumor.

After the hollow attack on Shuuhei and his group, he and Kira started seeing each other more and more, not really dating yet, although eventually they became the Academy's golden couple, the best senior student with the best freshman student, both considered geniuses. It was almost dreamy.

They made out at lot during their Academy days. Izuru was proud to say that Shuuhei's first french kiss was his. In fact, a lot of firsts were Izuru's, the first time sleeping together in a bed, first time making out in a field, first time making out under a table, first time giving a blowjob, first time having a blowjob, first time doing a 69, first time they had sex.

Then Shuuhei graduated. They parted on good terms. Why not? They had plenty of good memories together, memories that neither would forget and surely, they would meet again sometime.

Soon after, Izuru graduated as well, his first Division being the 5th. There, he started dating again, this time a bit more seriously, his relationships lasted a bit more, then came Ichimaru. That man had completely swept him off his feet.

Charming, mysterious, attractive, interested. And most of all, someone Izuru was entranced by him, being his lieutenant was only the first step. Relationships between taicho and fukutaicho were not forbidden so they were free to flirt, sometimes pretty heavily. It all ended up one drunken night when Gin had finally gotten Izuru in the sack.

The next morning Kira thought everything was going to end, that he was going to be punished and demoted for sleeping with his taicho, and instead he got a soft pat on the head and a question of how many sugar cubes he'd like in his coffee.

Izuru's relationship with Gin was a lot less open than what had been with Shuuhei. They kept to themselves pretty much, showing affection only in private, with only a few selected people knowing about them.

It had been a completely different kind of relationship, a lot more intense than Izuru's formers, but eventually it started to turn suffocating.

Around that time, Shuuhei was also fukutaicho and he and Kira were seeing each other again, as friends this time, they'd have a drink or lunch after lieutenant meetings, and sometimes go drinking with other friends. Shuuhei began to get interested in Kira again. Since his acceptance in the 9th Division, he'd kept to himself and only dated occasionally, almost constantly thinking of wanting a perfect relationship with the perfect someone. The only one coming close enough being Kira.

Kira's break up with Gin came as a blessing to Shuuhei, he snatched the chance before anyone else and invited him out as much as he could, sending hints Izuru's way with hopes that he would have him in mind just as much Hisagi had Kira in mind.

And it worked. And that was how they got where they were now.

* * *

Izuru gently ran his fingers along Shuuhei's hair. Both had been just signing and checking over left over files from the day, working extra hours meant more free days for them to meet and go do something. Do something...

Kira sighed, touching Shuuhei's head on his lap. Lately their somethings had become whatevers. When it used to mean going out or just being with each other, now was a night at home, each in its own stuff. Their relationship was cooling...

Was he becoming frigid? Izuru didn't think so, he was sure Shuuhei still came inside him with just as much strength as before and he still trembled whenever Shuuhei would touch him in even the slightest sexual way. So it wasn't the sex. Maybe it was just himself...?

"Shuuhei?"

"Mmmmrrrmmnnnhh..."

"Shuu? Can you wake up?"

"Hhmmmrrnno..."

Izuru chuckled and placed a pillow under Shuuhei's head so he could move. Slowly, he undid Shuuhei's sash and his own, moving to straddle him and take off his top, kissing every inch of skin revealed. Slowly, Shuuhei woke up and slid his hands under Kira's uniform.

"Hey, trying to wake me?"

"Mm-hmmm." Izuru smiled and nibbled on Shuuhei's abs.

"Nice." Hisagi grinned at him, working his hands to move Izuru's top off of him, making it slide off his shoulder and reveal that warm white skin.

Shuuhei smiled appreciably, making Izuru blush a bit under his gaze.

"Special occasion?" The dark male inquired, slowly working the knot on Kira's sash.

"Should there be?" Izuru asked back, lightly scratching Hisagi's chest as he ran his fingernails down his chest, scrapping a dark nipple gently.

"Mmmno..." Shuuhei grinned and leaned up to kiss his lover sweetly.

* * *

"I'm going on a mission tomorrow...it might take time..."

Izuru stared at the man who'd just made love to him last night. He'd felt specially energetic in the morning, so he'd made bento for both himself and Shuuhei, and at lunch time he'd ran to the 9th to offer it to him. The same man that had smiled when he arrived, the same who's eyes had twinkled when he saw the bento, the man who had invited him to eat privately, was now leaving.

"What?"

"Sorry, I didn't tell you. I didn't get the message until this morning. I'm sorry, Izuru."

Kira lowered his chopsticks and stared at his food.

"It's...it's alright. This is our job after all..."

"Izuru..."

"No, I understand. Really." Izuru looked up to offer Shuuhei a small smile. "Besides, you're going with Tousen-taicho, he'll make sure to bring you back to me unharmed."

"Uh, that's the thing...I, uh, don't want you to wait for me..."

"...I'm sorry?"

"Izuru, I-"

"No, forget the question. You're...you're breaking up with me. I understand."

"No, baby, I just don't want you to...if I die..."

"I said I understand..."

"Izuru..."

"Eat you food, Shuuhei."

After a short while, Shuuhei sighed and finished his food, figuring that this would probably be the last he would taste of Kira's food.

Three hours later and with Shuuhei gone for Hueco Mundo, Kira finally yielded to his tears, letting them flow freely from his eyes into his sleeve.

He should've seen it coming he supposed. Shuuhei wasn't one to lie or lead someone on, at least not knowingly, but at the moment Kira felt so cheated. He'd given him everything and this was the thanks he got back? Not even a goodbye kiss, or something that could say that they would remain friends afterwards.

The back alley of the 3rd Division was lonely and in some way, comforting. He didn't want anyone to see him cry his heart out into his hands. Well...that was a lie. He did want someone to comfort him a bit, not just a cold alley to echo his sobs.

"Izuru?"

The voice made the question sound more like a statement. Kira sniffled and tried to wipe his eyes the best he could before turning around to face the other person.

"Taicho..."

Gin cocked his head to the side, taking in Izuru's figure, his reddened eyes, his wet sleeve and the lost look in his face from loosing an important and close person to his heart.

"Izuru-chan..."

Ichimaru cooed, opening his arms welcomingly for his little fukutaicho. Kira didn't ignore the invitation and threw himself into his captains arms, staining the man's haori with fresh tears. Gin raised a hand to gently pet Izuru's hair. Today he would be sweet, he would be gentle, that was all he needed to make Izuru fall right into his arms all over again.

_To be continued..._

Ooh! Drama!! I hope this flashback chapters explain some things that were left hanging. Next chapter will also be a flashback, continuation of this one.


	14. Always singing his song

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 14**

_(This is a flashback chapter)_

Kira was an early riser, but a slow waker. He lazily opened his eyes and wondered when the paint had changed color. A few minutes later he realized he wasn't in his apartment, and that the warm hold around him wasn't Shuuhei.

Izuru couldn't help feeling a bit like a slut, sleeping with Shuuhei one night and then sleeping with Gin the very next.

A mutter of his name and a soft kiss behind his ear emptied Izuru's mind of these thoughts. Gin was here with him now, he would be okay.

* * *

"Nemu, how is the experiment going."

"So far, a hundred male shinigami have taken the diluted pills in their food. We expect results to start showing in the next few months."

"Good. Keep and eyes on the 5th Seat of the 11th Division, I'm almost completely sure he will be one of the impregnated."

"Yes, Mayuri-sama."

* * *

As soon as he heard that a 9th Division squad had had an accident in Hueco Mundo, Izuru shot out of his office to the gate. So what if Shuuhei had broken up with him, so what if he was now with Gin. Shuuhei was still his beloved friend and senpai.

"Shuuhei!"

The 4th Division was already there, treating those who needed immediate help and transporting the rest to their Division. Shuuhei was leaning heavily on Tousen, his arm bleeding and hanging lifelessly, despite still clutching his sword like a lifeline. Part of his face was also drenched in blood from a head wound, his uniform torn in different places. Even Kira couldn't help but gasp at the sight.

"S-shuu..."

The wounded shinigami raised his head to look at him, a smile tugging at his lips and took a step away from his captain.

"Izu..."

Kira had to shunpo to Shuuhei before he fell face first. The blood was still fresh and stained Izuru's uniform as he held Shuuhei tight, feeling the other man still breath and try to whisper him something.

"I...missed you a lot...Izuru..."

Kira felt like crying, he'd cheated on him. He'd cheated on Shuuhei with his captain. Even though they had officially broken up, Izuru still felt bad about sleeping with Gin even though Hisagi was away. He should've waited, couldn't he have waited until Shuuhei returned? Then he might felt less like he was being a slut behind his back.

"I...I missed you too..."

* * *

Gin's horrible cackle resounded in his ears. He could see the man grinning at him. He'd lost. He knew he had just lost something, a game? The prize?

Suddenly Ichimaru opened his arm and Kira appeared, looking up lovingly at him, forgetting that there was anyone else in the world. Gin smiled at him, silently saying that he had won and slowly leaned towards Izuru, a hand coming to cup his cheek. Lips coming closer until-

"Izuru!!"

Shuuhei woke with a start, almost immediately feeling the sting of his shoulder wound. He grunted and moved his other hand to hold his shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut at the pain. Soft hands soon came to him, pushing him to lay back down and the pain subsided a little. He muttered a thanks and opened his eyes, expecting to see a 4th Division nurse but was pleasantly surprised by the sight of a blonde lieutenant instead.

"Izu-"

"You should rest, Shuuhei. You almost got your arm torn off."

"Izuru." Shuuhei still couldn't believe it somehow. It was like the last glass of water in the desert, his beloved Izuru was there with him. For all the time he was in Hueco Mundo, he couldn't stop thinking about him and regret breaking up with him. And then that dream...

"Izuru...w-what happened? Your uniform."

Izuru blinked and looked at the blood in his clothes, as if suddenly noticing it.

"Oh. You happened. You fainted on me after you arrived."

"Oh."

Kira smiled softly at him, running a hand gentle through Shuuhei's hair.

"Rest, you're still healing."

"Izuru, I...I'm sorry...I never wanted to break up with you. Forgive me."

The blonde just looked at him, eyes soft, hands soft. "Rest..."

"Will you take me back?"

"Shuuhei..."

"Will you?"

Izuru sighed, there was no way to negotiate with Shuuhei, he'd always been like that, stubborn. But at the same time, it was a bit endearing, at least to Kira. Getting back together...he'd never wanted to be apart from day one, and then Shuuhei came and broke up with him and now wanted to get back. And what about Gin? Izuru didn't like this, he felt like a rag-doll being tossed around and he'd already made a compromise with Gin...

He sighed again, more heavily. "Alright..."

Shuuhei smiled, "Izuru...thank you."

"I was right though, Tousen did deliver you back safely to me."

Shuuhei chuckled and attempted to sit up to kiss him, but apparently, Izuru read his mind as he leaned in first to him. They kissed again, like they did before, and Shuuhei didn't feel the turmoil going on in Kira's head.

* * *

He was a slut. A dirty, cheating slut. He'd kissed Shuuhei. He'd given lieutenant Hisagi a kiss when he was still with Ichimaru.

What to do?

He certainly loved Shuuhei with all his heart, no doubt. They'd known each other since the Academy and they've been a couple before.

And Ichimaru...was his captain.They'd shared a relationship too, a pretty intense one. And Gin...could be a jealous lover...

What to do, what to do...

A cold touch, made him shiver suddenly. Turning around, he met the typical smiling face of his captain, his hand reaching to touch Izuru's neck.

"You look a little troubled, Izuru-chan."

"D-do I?"

"Mmm-hmmm."

Gin circled around Kira, like a predator watching his prey.

"I hear that the 9th Division squad sent to Hueco Mundo came back. With a few casualties."

"There were many injured...but, no one died."

"Oh, I see. Hisagi-fukutaicho came back too, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Are you nursing him?"

"Y-yes..."

"I see."

There was no malice in Gin's voice, only the usual jest, the cold humor. "Come, Izuru."

Kira obeyed. Lover or not, Gin was still his taicho and had to follow orders from him. "Do you love him, Izuru?"

The blonde's steps were quiet behind the fox-faced man. "Yes...I do..."

"Do you love me?"

"I love you too..."

"How is that possible?"

"There's different kinds of love..."

"So you don't love us the same."

"That's not what I--"

"Who do you love more?"

"Taicho!"

"Oh, me? I'm flattered, Izuru."

Kira blushed, hurrying his steps a little. He was answering honestly, did Gin want to make fun of him?

"Ichimaru-taicho--"

"Go back to him, Izuru."

Both stopped, Izuru's hand just about to clutch his taicho's sleeve.

"Go back to him, Izuru. He has something that I can't give you. Not now, and probably not ever..."

"Gin..."

Izuru stepped closer, hand not moving to clutch Gin's sleeve, but to touch the man's shoulder. Slowly, they looked at each other, Izuru's eyes wide and shining. They looked at each other for a seemingly long time, Izuru slowly moved closer, leaning forward to him, lips parted. Gin however, pressed a finger against Izuru's lips.

"No. It's all right. I won't resent you, either of you."

Izuru wanted to say something else, but he was being let out. The bird didn't hesitate when he cage was opened, why was he doubting?

"Go to him, Izuru. And that's an order." Gin offered his usual smile, full of mirth and fake happiness.

For today, Izuru believed him. He whispered a soft thank you and ran back to the 4th, to Shuuhei, to certain happiness.

_To be continued..._

Next update will be tomorrow. Please comment.


	15. True wounds, don't really hurt

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 15**

_(This is a flashback chapter)_

Abandonment.

They had been abandoned. Like used objects. Like a toy that had been played with everyday and was now broken.

That was how they felt, especially Hinamori. Aizen's betrayal simply did not compute in her mind, how the man she trusted and admired the most could turn out to be such a traitor and deceive all of Soul Society. She was not broken, she was utterly destroyed.

Kira himself couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that the man he had trusted for decades had manipulated him so. Shuuhei either couldn't believe that the man that preached justice and morality had succumbed to Aizen's promise of power. It was harder for Shuuhei to acknowledge, at least Kira could have the comfort of partly having seen it coming, with Gin's quirky way of being and creepy smile. So Hisagi distracted himself with consoling Izuru, while he came to terms with the fact that his captain had deceived him and wasn't coming back.

As soon as the first news of the three captains' defection, Izuru had gone to Shuuhei for solace and comfort, burying his face in the taller shinigami's chest.

"Shuu...the captain...our captains..."

"Yes...I know..."

He whispered soothing words into the blonde's ear, gently wrapping his arms around him. Words soon turned to caresses, touch soon turned to kisses, and those kisses soon led them to countless nights of drunk sex. They tried to lose themselves, tried to forget, the pain, the betrayal. The wounds soon started to heal, and each dressed each other's emotional scars with care.

Izuru trusted Shuuhei and leaned on him for emotional support, while Shuuhei prefered to deal with it himself. They each respected that and worked around it for both of them to work, but soon they found another way to forget themselves other than sake and sex. Work.

* * *

"Hey, Kira..."

"Yes?"

"This isn't working."

Izuru looked up from the transfer form in his hands. Some members of the 5h Division wanted to change to the 3rd and being the acting taicho, Izuru had to check and sign each one as both taicho and fukutaicho.

"What isn't?"

"This is."

The blonde cocked his head a bit, was Shuuhei having trouble with his own paperwork? It wasn't rare that they would bring home some work and work on it the rest of the day and even well into the night.

Shuuhei sighed. "This. This relationship."

Izuru looked at him for a moment longer. "Oh."

The next day, Izuru took a moment from work to bring Shuuhei some lunch, like he used to. The brunette also took some time so they could eat together, like they used to. They talked a bit, laughed at a silly anecdote and finished their food.

"Bye, Shuuhei."

"Yeah."

They kissed and walked away. They weren't angry with each other. Both knew that they had reached a standstill in their relationship, and there was no point in going on, not if neither was willing to change. And right now they needed some stability in their lives.

A couple of months later, an extraordinary meeting was called by the 13th Division captain. Nobody knew when or how, but when Kurotsuchi announced that everyone in Seireitei had been subject to an experiment and he thanked them for their cooperation, the whole Gotei 13 went into an uproar.

* * *

Kira slowly woke as someone gently shook his shoulder and called his name.

"Waah...Matsumoto-san?" Izuru yawned, looking up at her and her boobs.

"Kira, what are you doing laying down on the floor?"

"It's comfy?"

Matsumoto blinked at him for a moment before doing the same and laying down on the floor next to him.

"Well whadaya know!"

Izuru chuckled and continued to lay there. So much had happened to end up with the way things were now. Bad things, good things. He didn't regret anything, hopefully he would have his baby in peace and everything would be alright in their lives. Too bad he was asking for too much.

_To be continued..._

This is the end of the flashbacks, the next chapter will come back to the regular timeline but it'll be posted on Monday. Sorry it's rather short. Thanks for reading, please comment.


	16. My heart crumbled in silence

I did not forget the update yesterday. My cellphone was stolen so I had to file a report and ask for a new cellphone. I'm still pretty angry about it, especially because the cellphone strap it had was from Higurashi!! Where the hell am I gonna get another Higurashi cellphone strap!! Grrr! Sorry everyone, thanks for waiting.

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 16  
**

It was a normal day in Seireitei and Soul Society. Nothing more, nothing less. Until Aizen decided to attack.

Kira ran to his Division. Shuuhei would probably yell at him for even going but he could do that later, right now, the 3rd Division needed a leader. Even if was just him.

"Set up in groups. We will defend the west side of Seireitei. Support the other divisions and destroy any hollows that try to come in!" Izuru spoke his orders in a strong voice. His whole division yelled an energetic 'hai!' and moved out.

Izuru placed a hand on his belly and rubbed a little, he had much more to protect now than just Seireitei and Soul Society, much more.

"Ukitake-taicho has given temporary control of the 13th Division to me, so let's get along well." Kyoraku-taicho calmly explained. He and Jyuushiro had decided before that if the situation ever presented itself, this was what they were going to do.

8th and 13th Division merged together for the time being under Shunsui's command.

Meanwhile, Shuuhei was doing well with his own Division, they were used to following Shuuhei and he had proved himself to be a capable leader, worthy of the title of taicho. But now wasn't the time to think of promotions.

"Squad A, support the 11th! Squad B, come with me! Squad C go to the 3rd and support them! And someone check on Kira-fukutaicho!"

"Hisagi-fukutaicho! We've just received an update on the 3rd Division!"

"What is it?"

"Kira-fukutaicho...Kira-san...he went to the front lines sir..."

"What!!"

Kira panted as he slashed the hollow and watched it disappear with a scream. That was the fifth one now and it didn't look like they were relenting any time soon.

Still planting, Izuru leaned against a wall, pressing his hand against it while his other went to his belly. Shizuka had been moving non-stop now, Izuru tried to rub his belly and shush his little baby down, but something just seemed to be bothering him.

"What's wrong baby? What is it?"

Izuru looked to see where his squads were. He'd been afraid that under his command they would fall short, but his worry seemed unfounded now that he watched them slaughter hollow after hollow that came their way. They were doing great.

"You look well, Izuru-chan."

'That voice...!'

That reiatsu. How could he have not noticed? Izuru turned around, eyes already wide and lips trembling. It could only be _that_ person, who else? Nobody called him Izuru-chan anymore, not even Shuuhei, because it was what _that_ person used to call him.

His hand went protectively to his belly, while his other gripped his sword tighter.

That silver hair, the pale skin, those red eyes...

"G-gin..."

_To be continued..._

Next update will definety be tomorrow Wednesday. Again, sorry for not updating in time.


	17. The blue sky's tears are overflowing

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 17**

"G-gin..."

"Did you miss me, Izuru-chan?"

Izuru trembled as he stared at Ichimaru. That man...the only possible candidate for Shizuka's father other than Shuuhei. The hand he'd placed on his stomach tightened a bit, did Gin know? Had he come for that? For his baby?

Suddenly, Shizuka seemed to move harder than before. Kira cried out and fell to his knees, cradling his stomach.

Pain ripped through him like someone was running a zanpakutou through and across him. Shizuka's reiatsu was scrambling wildly while Izuru could barely keep good control of his.

He screamed at the pain, despite Gin being there, he screamed for someone to help him.

"Shu-Shuuhei!!"

"Izuru..."

Shuuhei had no time to distract himself as a hollow suddenly charged at him, jaws wide open to tear him apart. One slash and the monster was no more.

"Kira!"

A few shinigami followed after Shuuhei as he ran in the direction of the 3rd Division. Hisagi had felt it, Izuru's reiatsu giving a desperate cry for help. He knew he should've insisted to Izuru not to fight, he should've spoken with his squad about standing back, he should've gone help Izuru in the beginning instead...

"Izuru!"

Finally arriving, Shuuhei rushed towards the blond on the ground, apparently passed out, but under him there was a small pool of blood forming. Was he injured? Had it been a hollow?

Without thinking, Shuuhei picked him up and shunpo'd to the 4th Division, yelling for someone to come help him and Izuru.

"Sh-shuuhei..." Izuru whispered weakly. Looking down at him, Shuuhei felt a bit relieved that Izuru was awake. "Izuru...how do you feel? Are you hurt?"

"I-...Ichi...maru..."

"Ichimaru? Ichimaru did this?"

Izuru shook his head and was about to answer back when suddenly he screamed, curling up the best he could while Shuuhei held him.

"Izuru!"

Isane came running a stretcher and placed Izuru on it, taking him away.

"Wa-wait! Isane! Where're you taking him!"

Isane didn't answer him as they took his blond lover away, his face contorted in an expression of pain.

At that moment, the hollows started retreating, the ones that fell behind were killed . Word ran that Kira-fukutaicho had been injured, even though nobody knew from what or how.

Most captain and vicecaptains that were close to Izuru and Shuuhei came running to offer Hisagi their support. Shuuhei himself didn't even know what was going on, was Izuru going to be okay? Did they need help? Could he see Izuru?

Shuuhei was a bit relieved when Unohana came by, but that relief dissipate when he took a look at her troubled face.

"Hisagi-fukutaicho, come with me." She said and began to walk away briskly. Shuuhei followed her without question, was there something wrong?

Unohana stepped into a roof with four or five nurses, all around Izuru who was screaming bloody murder. Shuuhei took a step towards him but Unohana stopped him.

"He's in pain!!" Shuuhei screamed at her.

"He's about to give birth."

"W-what?"

"He went into labor a couple of hours ago, an--"

"But...but, he's only seven months--"

"Yes, but it is possible. We'll deliver the baby right now, we can't wait any longer if we want both parent and child to survive."

Shuuhei looked at her and then looked at Izuru, struggling to keep his breath steady while the nurses tried their best to attend him, checking his pulse, breathing, and checking for the baby. Shuuhei sighed and nodded, earning another nod from Unohana.

"Go change, you will assist us during the birth."

Izuru screamed and tightened his hold on Shuuhei's hand even more. Even though it was a caesarean birth, Izuru had asked not to give him any medicaments, including anything for the pain.

"Izuru...I love you..." Shuuhei whispered.

Izuru looked at him with tears in his eyes. "I...love you too..."

Just then, Izuru gave a particularly loud scream that soon mixed with the distinctive crying of a baby.

Shuuhei smiled and looked over at the baby, grinning when he say a small tuff of blonde hair on top of the baby's head. The baby was cleaned with a towel and wrapped in a warm blanket, its cries soon subsiding. The umbilical cord was also severed and soon the baby was handed to his father's hands.

Shuuhei was speechless, he'd held babies before but holding his own son was different. The flesh of his flesh. Tenderly, he ran a hand along a chubby cheek and the baby suddenly opened his eyes, two blue orbs looking up at the tattooed shinigami. Shuuhei even gasped a little, the color would probably change with time but he hoped not, as it was now the baby looked almost exactly like Izuru.

"Izuru...Izuru!"

His blonde lover was still in the operating bed, his eyes glassy and half-closed as a nurse placed an oxygen mask on his face to help him breath. Shuuhei faintly heard Unohana giving orders around, ordering for more blood and an emergency suture kit. Izuru was loosing blood, too much and too quickly.

"Izuru!!"

Just as Shuuhei reached for Izuru's hand, the blond's eyes closed. Without looking at his newborn yet.

_To be continued..._

Hate to leave you with the cliffhanger, next update will be tomorrow Thurdsay.


	18. There's love, there's peace

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 18**

_Approximately 2 months later_

Jyuushiro looked at the moon shining from his window. A contraction broke the thought of how beautiful it looked. He wanted to give birth at home, even if Shunsui had originally complained, Unohana had assured him that it could be done and would be better since Ukitake-taicho would feel more relaxed in a familiar surrounding.

"Ukitake-taicho, push when I say, alright."

Jyuushiro nodded and gently squeezed Shunsui's hand, who squeezed him back as well.

It hurt, but not as much as he had imagined at first and he didn't bleed as much as Unohana had originally predicted.

"Very good. Rest now for a moment."

Jyuushiro let out a deep sigh and leaned against Shunsui, who lovingly wiped off the sweat of his face. "How're you feeling?"

"Oh, awful! I'm never having sex with you again!"

Shunsui let out an easy laugh and held Jyuushiro's hand tight as he gave the final pushes.

A baby's cry soon filed the room and the white haired captain finally laid back in exhaustion. Unohana cleaned the baby and cut the umbilical cord, gently wrapping a soft blanket around the baby before presenting it to his parents.

"It's a girl, Ukitake-taicho."

Jyuushiro almost felt like crying. He extended his arms to take her and held her close to his chest, watching her tiny face scrunch up and then relax. "A girl...oh, Shunsui..." he smiled widely and looked at his partner.

Kyoraku nodded and moved to hold them both close, smiling gently.

Unohana smiled at them and began to gather everything, staying ready just for the afterbirth. "Oh, what are you going to name her?"

"Fuyumi. Fuyumi Ukitake." Shunsui answered, moving a piece of he blanket a bit more tightly against the baby's body.

**_(Time or place skip)_**

"Ichigo, bring some towels to the bathroom. And call Ishida Ryuuken please."

Ichigo stopped reading his book to look at the place where Isshin had just been. Had he just...made a normal request? Without jumping, without exaggerating, without...just normal?

Well, at least he could comply then. Maybe that would teach Isshin a lesson on how to ask things.

He gathered up what his dad had asked him for a delivered it to the bathroom.

"Oh, thanks, now call Ryuuken please and tell him to come over urgently." Ichigo nodded and caught a glimpse of Urahara sitting on the floor, clutching the edge of the tub, a pained look on his face.

Ichigo hurried to the phone and dialed the number of Ishida u and delivered his father's message. In less than an hour he had arrived and Ichigo guided him again to the bathroom. The doctor went in and closed the door, and didn't open it for the next three hours.

Ichigo stayed close by just in case, sitting on the floor next to the door. He could feel Urahara's cries inside, along with some encouragement from Isshin and orders from Ryuuken. He knew that Urahara's due date was close, but he didn't think it would be this close, lest of all today. Ichigo sighed and continued to hear Urahara's soft sobs, obviously trying to restrain from crying or screaming.

Hours later, Ryuuken came out and lighted a cigarette, leaning against the wall on the other side. "Your father needs some towels." He addressed Ichigo, even though he didn't look at him. Ryuuken looked tired, he'd taken off his coat and pulled his sleeves up, unbuttoning his shirt just a bit.

Ichigo nodded and went to get those quickly, along with some blankets for the baby. He knocked softly on the bathroom door and walked in, not sure what to expect.

Urahara was lying on the tub, filled with warm water. Isshin was sitting on the edge next to him, his sleeves also pulled up. He looked at Ichigo for a second and smiled, reaching for the blankets. Ichigo stood there, a bit unsure until Urahara looked at him and smiled so very gently.

"Come see your new sister." he said and Ichigo couldn't help feeling a bit excited. He walked closer and leaned over to look at the tiny baby cradled in Urahara's arms, a blonde tuff of hair on her head.

"What's her name?"

"Shiki. I haven't decided on a last name though."

"She's beautiful."

"...thank you, Ichigo." Kisuke smiled.

_**(Time or place skip)**_

Hanatarou screamed bloody murder as the nurse asked him to just breathe and relax. To hell with that!! He was in fucking lot of pain! Ganju was right next to him, fretting and screaming as well for someone to do something. He was in pain too, who would've though that his little Hana would have such a strong grip, he was starting to lose feeling in his fingers...

Finally Unohana came around and injected Hanatarou with something that made him stop screaming, although he lost most of the feeling for the waist under. "Just a temporary anesthesia, until the baby needs to be born."

Both Hanatarou and Ganju thanked her and waited until Hantarou's body was ready to give birth. His pregnancy was high risk now, the baby wasn't in the right position so they would try to push it around to see if they could move it or stimulate it to move into the right position.

Kuukaku also came, although she didn't assist in the birth but this was her nephew being born, it was a time for family to gather, as dysfunctional as it could be.

About an hour later, Hanatarou went into labor and this time he was denied an anesthesia. If something went wrong and Hana couldn't feel it, it could be dangerous. They had managed to put the baby in the correct position but it wasn't coming out, and Hanatarou didn't want a c-section.

"Ganju-kun. I need you to put your hands on Yamada-kun's belly and lightly push as I tell you." Unohana gently ordered him. With a nervous nod, Ganju squeezed Hanatarou's hand once and placed his hands on Hana's belly, ready to push down when Unohana order.

"Ready now? Alright, push."

Ganju tried to be gentle, even as Hanatarou screamed and did his best to push out.

For Hanatarou it seemed like an eternity to push and hurt and scream, but somehow, all that pain and trouble seemed nothing when Unohana came around to show him his baby. He was still wet from just being born a second ago and his face was all scrunched up as he screamed, but to Hanatarou it seemed like the most beautiful thing in the universe.

"Hi...Hibari..."

He gently touched him for a second before Unohana had to take him away to get cleaned up. Hanataraou sighed and turned to Ganju, who'd just kissed his cheek sweetly.

"I love you, Hana..."

"I love you too."

_To be continued..._

Fuyumi (winter water) - This is a reference to Shunsui's name, which means 'spring water' (the season). And also 'winter' in reference to Ukitake's hair color. White snow winter.

Shiki - Simply the combination of Urahara's and Isshin's names. Is**shi**n + **Ki**suke Shiki. I decided pretty late that I wanted a girl for them, if it had been a boy his name would've been Kishin.

Hibari - All member of the Shiba family have names inspired by birds. Hibari means 'skylark' and the first hiragana also corresponds to the 'ha' family (ha, he, hi, ho), coinciding with the first hiragana of Hanatarou's name. **Hi**bari, **Ha**natarou.


	19. My beloved season calls me

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 19**

Shuuhei finished making the baby formula and stored it carefully in three baby bottles. One he stored in the fridge, and the other two were slid carefully into the baby bag he was preparing, along with diapers, a change of clothing and another blanket. Was he forgetting something? Oh yeah, toys.

Walking to the nursery, he checked on his little son's sleeping face and smiled. Better hurry up while he slept. Shuuhei picked the few things he knew would entertain Shizuka and stored them along with the rest of the stuff he had prepared.

"Ok, I think I'm done here." He said to himself and walked back to the nursery.

Very carefully he picked Shizuka up, hoping not to wake him. He hoped for too much. Shizuka's face scrunched up and threatened to spill tears and scream for being woken up. His father soon changed tactics though and began to gentle rock him, whispering soothing words and lullabies to appease the baby.

It worked and Shuuhei gave a sigh of relief.

Quickly, while Shizuka was quiet, he strapped him on his carrycot and picked everything he would need for the day.

The day was warm, but Shuuhei had still dressed Shizuka in something warm, Izuru would've wanted it so.

Shizuka was only a month old and he was already popular with the ladies. More than once Shuuhei was stopped and asked if they could see the little baby, and although he would've wanted to leave Shizuka alone, more than once he raised the blanket he'd placed over it so the sun wouldn't disturb his son. Praise was obviously given, of what good genes Shuuhei had, how healthy and handsome the baby was and how much he looked like his mother.

Shuuhei would always smile at the last one, so far the baby's eyes were the exact same color as Izuru's and he hoped they would reman like that.

Living behind Seireitei, Shuuhei held the carrycot closer as he entered the forest nearby, it was the only way to get where he needed to.

He remembered this forest very well. It was the one nearby the Shinigami Academy, and the same one he and Izuru would escape to. Shuuhei smiled at the memories, memories of a loving boyfriendhood.

"Shizuka, this is were mama and daddy used to come after class and make out."

Surprisingly, Shuuhei got and answer. Shizuka made a soft cooing sound in response to his father's voice. Hisagi smiled and stopped to arrange everything again.

With Shizuka firmly held in his arms, Shuuhei resumed walking through the forest until he reached a particular monument. A tomb.

"Izuru..."

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Slowly, the blonde turned around, a slightly surprised, but happy look on his face. "Anata..."

Shuuhei grinned and walked forward, "Look who's here to see you."

Izuru smiled back and offered his arms to Shizuka, who was already squirming in his father's hold. For some reason, Shizuka was more mother-oriented, but that didn't mean he didn't react to Shuuhei.

"You didn't need to come, anata."

"I wanted to pay my respects to your parents too. And besides, we're a family now."

Izuru smiled as Shuuhei said that. He was right, they were a family now.

_To be continued..._

There's another chapter after this one, and that one is gonna be the final chapter, dunno when I'll post it. By the way "anata" in Japanese means "you", but it can also be used by a wife to refer to her husband, in this case it mean "dear/darling".

I also wanna say thanks to everyone who read this and left reviews or a comment, that really drove me on to keep posting. Off the top of my head I wanna say thanks to:

shadowofmyself435  
dark.lights  
afrieal  
fangirl 666  
Kira Izuru  
Ceestar  
Luthiena  
xanthophobiac

Thanks guys Sorry if I didn't mention someone who also posted, thanks to you!


	20. The things I'm passing down

**Kataritsugu koto  
Chapter 20**

Ganju was amazed on how Hana only had to hold Hibari a certain way for the baby to latch on and begin feeding, whereas the baby squirmed with him even if he was just holding him.

"He doesn't like me."

"He doesn't dislike you, he just prefers mommy's milk now. Don't you sweetie?"

Ganju couldn't get mad. Not when Hantarou looked so happy and beautiful like that. Their little Hibari was the cutest thing, dark haired and green eyed. He hoped it looked more like Hanatarou than himself, although he wouldn't complain if Hibari looked just a little bit like him.

"When are you going back to work, Hana?"

"Oh. Unohana-taicho said it's okay to take two months off since I have to rest so much. It was a difficult birth."

Hana even had to get stitches. But he was okay, and Hibari was okay too, Ganju was glad for that.

"So you'll stay here, Ganju?"

"Yeah, I'll probably go to the kidou Corps. I don't feel comfortable with a shinigami uniform."

"Alright, but...you do know you have to go through the Academy anyway, right?"

"...aw, dammit!"

"So, in conclusion. Male shinigami birth is possible. The baby absorbs not only the mother's nutrients but also his reiatsu. And interesting to point out, the father's reiatsu also influence on the child's development while in the womb. A father with a strong reiatsu will stimulate the child into a much quicker development, which in turn can provoke an early birth."

"Thank you, Kurotsuchi-taicho. This concludes today's meeting. Dismissed."

As soon as Yamamoto called the meeting over, Shunsui hurried back home to his new family. He insisted to Jyuushiro that he should stay home and rest as much as possible, but that didn't stop the white-haired male of taking walks in his own garden, often with Fuyumi.

And Fuyumi was sooooo cute!! Her face was round and chubby still but Shunsui could tell that she would be very beautiful as she grew. Nanao had already congratulated both on a successful birth, and especially congratulated her captain on finally having only one woman in his life.

Fuyumi took a lot after Shunsui, but her skin was as fair as her mother's, they would have to wait until her hair grew to now if it would be wavy like her father's.

"Jyuu-chan?" Shunsui called as he arrived home. "Jyuu-chan..."

Looking around for him, a smile formed once he found Jyuushiro and Fuyumi. They were asleep in the bedroom, Jyuushiro slightly curled up on his side facing Fuyumi, while Fuyumi had only a thin blanket on top of herself. It looked cute, if only he'd had a camera!

Dropping his pink haori and captain haori, Shunsui laid down on Fuyumi's other side, closing his eyes to happily join his husband and daughter in sleep.

"So, how's Urahara-san doing?"

"He's fine now. Dad won't let him go back to the Shoten just yet. But I dunno if he's doing it for purely medical reasons, or he just wants to gush over his daughter."

Renji snickered before taking another gulp of his sake. They were having a small get together since they hadn't seen each other all together since everything started. Renji and Ichigo had gotten there first, and Renji had convinced Ichigo to have at least a cup of sake, although watered down.

"Oh, there's Ikkaku."

"Oi! Renji! Ichigo!" Ikkaku waved at the and went back out, coming in again with Yumichika.

"Oh wow, when did you get pregnant, Yumichika?" Ichigo asked.

"You're so big now."

Yumi chuckled softly. "I'm not that big yet, I'm just about three months."

Ikkaku had worked extra for that baby, almost right after Kira had given birth.

"Unohana and Kurotsuchi-taicho are following really closely so I don't have a risk of miscarrying again."

"Well, I'm really happy for you Yumichika."

Yumi smiled and turned to kiss Ikkaku briefly. Ichigo noticed that there was a ring on Yumichika's finger, but wether it was an engagement, marriage or just a ring he didn't know.

"Anata, we're gonna be late." Despite Izuru's gentle voice, Shuuhei could hear the hurry in it.

"I know, sorry sorry. Ok, done! Let's go now."

Shuuhei threw the baby bag over his shoulder while with his other hand he held the baby carrier. Izuru fixed his hold on Shizuka and began walking. Shizuka cooed and waved his little arms as they walked to the reunion.

"This is Shizuka's first time out, right?"

"No, Shuu, but it is his first time seeing everyone."

"Oh, right." Shuuhei moved closer and wrapped an arm around him. Izuru looked up at him and smiled.

Shizuka nearly had three months old now. The issue about Shizuka's biological father had been long forgotten, Shuuhei was his father no matter what. They arrived at the same time as Iba and everyone greeted them with particular warmth, especially Izuru. Shizuka was stil reluctant of leaving his mother's hold but he smiled charmingly and responded with coo's and laughs to everyone's antics.

As opposed to other reunions, they didn't drink as much. Well, it wasn't like they could with a baby and a pregnant person around.

Izuru had to excuse himself when Shizuka started to get sleepy and they day started to turn into night.

"I'll go with you." Shuuhei stood as well.

"You can stay if you want, anata. They're your friends."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't do if I left my family alone."

Izuru smiled, he was right. They were a family, married and with a child. His child was born and healthy, and he too was alive and healthy. Shuuhei loved him and he had friends that would stand by his side.

"Shuuhei?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Izuru."

"So, Abarai? When are you and Ichigo gonna consummate your love?"

Both Renji and Ichigo spit their drinks, coughing to get back their breath.

"R-renji and I...why should I tell you guys!! What the hell!"

"Hey, Renji, have you deflowered the little strawberry yet?"

"Don't answer him Renji!!"

"Uh umm, well..."

"Or maybe the bun's already in the oven?"

They all laughed, except Ichigo, who pouted and blushed a bit. He wasn't pregnant, but it was a little embarrassing that his first time had been with Renji, his first boyfriend.

Gently, a hand came over his and squeezed. Ichigo looked up at Renji, who was blushing just a bit. Ichigo smiled, Renji was his boyfriend and a good one at that. He was happy and glad to have him. He was lucky.

"I love you, Ren..." he whispered.

"Love ya too."

That night, Izuru stood right next to Shizuka's crib, watching him breathe slowly and sleep. His little baby.

"Izuru..."

Kira turned with a small gasp, relieved to see that it was only Shuuhei.

"Anata..."

"Can't sleep?"

"I can...but..."

"Worried?"

"A little..."

Shuuhei walked over and wrapped his arm around Izuru, pulling him close. Izuru let him, even laying his head on Shuuhei's shoulder.

"Shuuhei..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad this happened."

Shuuhei smiled. "I'm glad too."

Izuru reached into the crib and tucked the blanket closer around Shizuka.

"I'm not afraid anymore. This is my new eternity. The most precious thing I'm passing down. The proof of our love."

"I love you, Izuru..."

"I love you too, Shuuhei. Forever."

**END**


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"_Hana_..._hana_."

"Yes, that's a flower."

"_Akai hana_!"

"Uh huh. A red flower. You wanna take some for daddy?"

Shizuke nodded vigorously and crouched down to carefully grab the flowers from the ground. Izuru crouched too next to his child, patiently watching him get his hands and clothes dirty. That was okay, those could always be washed.

A gently breeze ruffled the hair of the two blonds and Izuru looked up to see the person that had come with it.

"Gin."

"Hello, Izuru."

The shinigami stood, brushing his simple kimono at the knees to look a bit presentable. Gin looked at him up and down. Izuru's hair had been cut in a style that recalled his Academy days, making him look several decades younger, and the clear blue kimono only accentuated his smooth and still youthful skin.

"You look good, Izuru."

"So do you." He was only being polite, Gin knew.

The smaller blond stood and hid behind his mother's legs, shyly peeking at the stranger like he clutched Izuru's kimono. Izuru's eyes changed as he looked down at his son, a gentle hand coming to rest on top of the little one's head.

"Shizuka, this is a friend of mama. Say 'hello'."

Shizuka blinked his big blue eyes at Gin before daring to speak. "Hello..."

"Hi" Gin waved, but the two-year old still hid behind his parent.

Izuru chuckled at the little boy's shyness, he was like that. "Shizuka, why don't you pick blue flowers for papa? Mama is gonna talk with his friend for a bit."

The boy still kept close by while he did what his mother told him to, he was still too small to be apart from either of his parents for too long.

"He's beautiful, Izuru." Gin commented as he came a little closer, eyes resting on Shizuka. "He looks so much like you."

"I know..." Shizuka had inherited almost all his looks from Izuru, even though Izuru predicted that his hair would turn a little darker and his eyes had turned a lighter blue than Izuru's blue-green orbs.

"But, I was really wondering..." Gin trailed off. Izuru probably hadn't mentioned Shizuka's whole story to him, and he didn't think he was eager to tell him any time soon.

Izuru understood and gently shook his head at the silent question. "He's Shuuhei's. He's all Shuuhei's." He wasn't lying, he'd never been a good liar and even less to Gin Ichimaru.

"I see."

"Disappointed?"

"Not really. But if it had been min--"

"Don't." Izuru sharply interrupted Gin. Ichimaru was a bit startled but grinned anyway.

"I'm happy for you."

"Thank you..." Izuru answered meekly, a shadow of his former self when the silver-haired man was still his captain.

Gentle lips pressed a sweet kiss to Izuru's cheek. "Goodbye, Izuru."

"Goodbye..."

A gentle breeze made Shizuka look up at his mama, noticing that the other man was gone.

"Mama, where's the other _ossan_?"

Izuru smiled at his child. "He had to leave, honey."

"Oh."

"Did you pick flowers?"

"_Hai_! Look! I picked lots of red and blues and some yellow ones too!" Shizuka eagerly showed Izuru his picks. Izuru smiled and acted surprised and delighted at everything his son showed him.

Shizuka was Shuuhei's son, most definetly. Izuru knew so and nothing was gonna change it. This was the flesh and blood of both and what they would pass down to the future generations. The most perfect manifestation of their love.

**THE END**


End file.
